The Gardener of Godric's Hollow
by Risu-chan14
Summary: Remus loses his job and decides to become the Potters’ housekeeper. Meanwhile, Sirius is in desperate need of help in order to snag the so called love of his life. Will dating lessons from Remus be exactly what he needs? eventual slash.
1. I Don't Want To Spoil The Party

**Disclaimer:** If I were J. K. Rowling, thus owning Harry Potter, this would not be fanfiction.

**Summary:** After a sudden, though very expected, loss of a job, Remus Lupin becomes the Potter's housekeeper and gardener. Meanwhile, Sirius Black needs all of the help he can get in order to snag the so-called love of his life, and the only way to keep from making a fool out of himself is to get dating lessons from Remus. Voids are filled with fragrant flowers and sweet emotions.

There will be slash in this story, though not right away.

**The Gardener of Godric's Hollow**

By: Risu-chan

Chapter One: **I Don't Want To Spoil The Party**

James Potter was not sure whether early sunlight in the summer months was a blessing or a burden. While the sun _did_ awake the irritating birds a little sooner than one would like, its sparkling golden rays also added radiance to the crimson hair of the woman next to him. And the beauty of his wife outweighed any and all annoying wake up calls. James reached for his glasses on the bedside table and gazed at Lily. A small, hardly noticeable smile graced her perfect face as she dozed. How could she possibly stay asleep with such a bloody racket going on outside?

_CRACK!_

Wait a second. That wasn't a bird.

_BANG BANG BANG BANG!_

"James? Someone's at the door."

The bespectacled man attempted to flatten his ebony hair, with no luck of course. He hastily swung himself out of bed and headed out. Boy, whoever was pounding at the door better have a damn good reason for waking up his red-haired goddess. And for not using the Floo like everyone else. It better not be one of those Muggle solicitors.

_BAM BAM BAM BAM!_

"I'm coming, you git!" James hollered, angrily. A vein pounded in his temple with each strike on the door. He was now horribly aware of his wobbly morning-legs, as it was taking him twice as long to get to the foyer. Finally, James arrived at his destination, unlatched the chain, and flung open said door with the force of a thousand angry hippogriffs.

"What the devil do you—"

"Cute boxers, Prongsie."

Fifteen minutes of bickering and explanation later, James sat at the breakfast table glaring daggers at Sirius over the top of _The Daily Prophet, _a red robe covering his undergarments. Lily had slipped a robe on as well, a majestic green one that brought out the color in her eyes.

"Would you like some tea, Sirius?"

The black-haired visitor let out a grateful sigh. "I would love some, Lily. Thank you."

"_I would love some Lily, thank you_," James said to himself in a mocking voice. He clearly had not intended to have a row with Sirius so early in the morning. Was a Saturday alone with his wife too much to ask?

"Don't mind James, he's just sour because he didn't get to wake me up with a snog," Lily remarked.

"NO, I'm _sour_ because Sirius didn't listen to my bloody advice and got himself dumped again!"

Sirius sighed again and shook his head, leaning farther back on the couch. He was used to James giving him hell about his dates, but shouldn't James have gotten used to him screwing them up? This one had been pretty bad, though. Unlike his previous few, it was _Sirius_ who had to initiate the breakup.

"It's a shame too. The bloke was pretty seductive. And by that I mean he was pretty _and _seductive."

Lily interjected before James could say anything uncalled-for. "Then why did you break it off with him?"

"Wasn't my type. They never are, but this one was by far the worst," Sirius didn't really sound upset. Exhausted seemed like a better adjective for his slow, calm voice. "Took one look at that girl I broke it off with last week- you know, the chatty one- and asked me if she was taken. Can you _believe_ that guy? Naturally, he was the perfect match for that crazy bird." He chuckled a little, making James feel slightly better. But boy would that guy have gotten a fistful of hexes if Sirius had been any less lighthearted.

"But at least I got to set them up," Sirius continued, as Lily began pouring the tea. "I think it's about time I gave up on dating."

_CRASH!_

The tea kettle fell to the floor, leaking hot water on the tile as it rolled in a circle. Lily snatched it up and James scrambled to perform a cleaning spell.

"You okay, Lils?" Sirius inquired. Lily glanced at him and quickly nodded her head. But Sirius wasn't satisfied. "No really. What's wrong guys?" His eyes shifted from James to Lily, who both looked utterly shocked.

James spoke up. "You can't be serious, mate."

"I'm always _Sirius._" He sighed dreamily, but only for a moment.

The Potters were staring daggers at him. Oh they had mastered that look so well, synchronizing at just the right moment… "Okay, okay I get what you're saying. You've never heard me say that before, right? Never in a million years did you think ol' Padfoot was going to say he's through with dates. Well I bet you never heard him say this either—."

_SWISH! CLUNK!_

How many more unwelcome noises was James going to have to put up with that morning? Remus Lupin climbed out of the fireplace and was about to apologize to Lily for the sooty mess…

"—I'm in love with someone."

A stunned silence ran through the room. Sirius sighed again.

"You can't be serious," said the disheveled werewolf, forgetting about Lily entirely.

"Didn't we already establish that I'm always—"

"Finish that sentence and I'll hex you."

A few minutes later, Lily had managed to make another pot of tea, serving it to all three men as they sat on the sofa, conversing. James studied Sirius while he spoke. Now that he wasn't so angry with his friend, he began to realize just how strangely he had been acting. Sirius always seemed a little calmer than the rest, but it was usually a sly calm, like he was cooking up the destruction of the world. But now, he sounded calm and collected—complete with heavy sighs and dreamy grins.

Meanwhile, Remus wasn't at all satisfied with Sirius' explanation. He shook his head. "Tell me again, _what_ makes you think you're in love?" he asked for the third time.

Sirius smiled, "Because I get a _feeling_ whenever I'm thinking—"

"Gross."

"No! Oh Moony, you know what I mean. I get a warm feeling in my chest. I'm in love with someone, I swear!"

"You sure it isn't heartburn?" Remus took a rather large gulp of tea, and then jolted forward as his burnt mouth began to protest.

Lily took in a tiny breath of frustration. She was getting mighty tired of cranky James, lovesick Sirius, and disturbed Remus. "Remus, dear...I think we've already established that Sirius came by to confuse everyone," she said, hoping to finally stop the trivial conversation. "Now please, tell us what brings you here unexpectedly?"

Suddenly, James and Sirius became very aware of how strange it was for Remus Lupin to show up at his friends' house without advanced warning.

"Yeah Moony, since when are you _me_?" Sirius barked a laugh.

Remus, sadly, did not find anything funny about his situation. "They passed the legislation," he said in a small, distant voice. Lily gasped and ran to the kitchen table to pick up James' discarded issue of _The Daily Prophet._ With one horrified glance at the front cover, she tossed the entire newspaper into the dustbin. This seemed to confirm everything.

"Oh, _Remus!_ I'm so sorry!" she cried as she walked back into the room and stood next to James, who looked as if he's just swallowed a grindylow. Jowls quivering, he made his way over to the dustbin, retrieved the paper, and read silently to himself as Sirius looked over his shoulder.

"3 July, 1979 – London – Dolores J. Umbridge, senior undersecretary to the Minister of Magic Millicent Bagnold, has passed the Werewolf Registry Law. The law, which had been in debate for ten weeks prior to Friday's decision, will be in effect immediately. All pure-blood, half-blood, Squib, and Muggle-born werewolves currently of age and living and/or working in the United Kingdom are hereby ordered to present themselves for registry at their local Ministry of Magic government building. All London residents must report directly to the main headquarters using the visitor's entrance only. Any werewolf who fails to register by August 25th of this year will be given a life sentence in Azkaban if caught. (story continued on page 3)

All at once, it looked as though Sirius had flown back into reality. He gently snaked an arm around Remus shoulders and hugged him. "Those bastards." Remus smiled as he almost _felt _Sirius whisper those words to him.

"Oh if only we weren't on break from training! Sirius and I might have had a say on this from inside the ministry," James said as he and Lily sat on either side of Remus and Sirius.

"As Aurors in training? I seriously doubt that. But still, there's nothing any of us can do right now. I'll be sent to Azkaban if I don't…if I don't…" Sirius squeezed Remus' hand as he was obviously on the verge of tears. Remus took a deep, shaky breath and continued, "If I don't register at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures."

"_WHAT!_" cried James, Sirius, and Lily at the same time. Sirius felt like growling. The stupid Ministry couldn't have made things more humiliating and degrading for Remus if they tried. Instead of growling and bearing his teeth, however, Sirius found himself holding onto Remus, his hands gripping the thin white t-shirt the werewolf had apparently been sleeping in. Remus looked startled, though the slight twinkle of amusement betrayed him. Sirius was such a bloody drama queen at times like these.

"We'll fight this, Moony," croaked Sirius.

"But Sirius, you have no say in the Department for Magical Law Enforcement…" whispered Remus. The ever-visible wrinkle appeared in between his tawny-colored eyebrows.

"No, I want to help you. I'll go sink my teeth into Dolores Umbridge's head. Maybe that'll shrink it a bit."

"Sirius—" pleaded Remus.

"Then just let me come with you when you go. To give you support. You haven't been to the Ministry before, right?"

"Are you sure, Sirius? I…you might have to wait a while once we're there. They'll have to strip down my wand and check my record from Hogwarts and ask me a lot of personal questions and…" Sirius, James, and Lily knew exactly what Remus meant by this trailing list of excuses. The three of them knew the werewolf better than anyone, even his own parents, and the babbling was his way of expressing that he really, really needed something. The whole reason Remus had come over in the first place was to subtly ask one of them to go with him to the Ministry. He wouldn't really get lost in the building—Remus had a spectacular sense of direction—but that's the story he'd probably use to cover up the fact that he was terrified of going alone. "…although I guess I could use an escort to show me around," the other three exchanged looks, "It did take Prongs four hours to find loo—"

"I can be your seeing-eye dog, Moony!" Sirius butt in.

At this, Remus burst out laughing. He practically shook with amusement as he pressed his face into Sirius' shoulder. "Padfoot, do you even know what a seeing-eye dog is?"

"Of course I do! They guide directionally challenged people around cities," Sirius answered, his eyes sparkling.

Lily snorted. "They guide the _blind_, Sirius."

Sirius threw his head back with his trademark bark-like laugh. "Oh well Moony probably doesn't need one of those. His eyesight's so good, he can see right through my shirt! This one time last year he—"

"I told you, that's _not_ why I was staring at your chest during Potions! Severus had attached something to your shirt when he was handing out ingredients," Remus retorted, flicking his friend in the temple. Sirius waggled his eyebrows in response.

Remus giggled and flushed, returning to his old self for at least a moment. Sirius couldn't help but grin at the fact that it had been he who made Remus feel better that morning. A warm splash of giddiness tingled Sirius' insides as Remus leaned his forehead against his side, chuckling. He glanced over at Lily and James, who were both sporting rather wide grins, as if they were portraying on their faces exactly what Sirius felt. Cocking his head to one side, he smiled back at them, thoroughly confused yet still content. The spell of having Remus curled up against him on the couch and the whole "Registry" business had made him completely forget about the reason he himself had come to James' in the first place.

"Oh, I completely forgot, who's this bloke you're head-over-paws for, Pads?" Count on James to ruin a good moment.

Remus scooted over to get a better look at Sirius' face. Sirius gulped. "Yes, I would like to know that myself. Have you dated him in the past? Is he a Muggle?"

"Umm, well…I can't say I have…and, well he could be, but…" he had expected and wholeheartedly wished for James to be his only audience for this one. But now, Peter might as well just Apparate into the living room and tell them that Kingsley will be arriving shortly on the Knight Bus with a couple of Imperiused Death Eaters. Well okay, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration. But really, Lily and Remus were _that_ type of people. The type that question and inquire and pry…but disguise it by being bloody polite and civilized about every damn thing. Well Sirius was going to have none of that!

He had to do some fast thinking. "It's umm…" Remus was leaning closer. "We'll he's…" Lily's eyebrows rose a few centimeters. What in the name of Merlin was he supposed to say? James sighed and got up from his seat, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Well, I'm going to make breakfast," he announced as though he'd read his friend's mind.

Sirius shot up like a rocket. "I'll help! Breakfast is about the only meal I know how to operate."

"WAIT!" cried Lily and Remus at the same time. Sirius turned on the spot, the color slowly draining from his face. Remus nodded his head to let Lily speak first. When she did, it was slow and clear, every word dripping with concern. "Sirius, please don't beat around the bush this time. I know you came here to tell James, but you know as well as I do that James tells me everything and I tell Remus almost as much!"

With the mention of Remus' name, Sirius glanced over at him and immediately wished he hadn't. Remus was wiggling in his seat and pouting, obviously trying to persuade him to talk with this cutesy act. "You don't have to tell us if you don't want to. But if he's someone we know… well I'm sure we'll find out anyway. So you might as well…"

Remus' cute face was just too much for this situation. The dog animagus looked to James for support, flashing him a petrified look. James rolled his eyes and sighed. "You're lucky I can handle your melodrama, Pads. Look, if I promise to keep these piranhas from eating you alive," he gestured towards Lily and Remus, "then I think you should at least tell them _something_. If you didn't want them to know, you should have spoken with me privately in the first place."

Sirius opened his mouth to retort, but James quickly added, "at a time when I was actually _alone_."

Sirius violently flung back his long mane of hair, but he knew that he has already lost this battle. He had to think of something to tell these people, and fast. He knew his face would flush and his forehead would begin to sweat if he didn't.

"Um, uhh," he stammered again, "I think I'm in love with…Amos Diggory!" with that, Sirius made a mad dash for the kitchen before anyone could process what he had said. After making sure his wife and Remus would stay put, James followed at a much slower pace.

"You don't feel a thing for Diggory, do you?" James smirked at his mate as the two of them rummaged through the cupboards for edible breakfast components.

Sirius sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time that morning. "Nope."

James punched him in the shoulder. "Gonna tell me who _actually_ stole our Paddy's heart?"

"That's just it, James…" but he didn't continue.

James immediately put down orange juice and focused on his best friend. He couldn't read every person's emotions; he wasn't Lily. But he _was_ pretty damn good at reading anything related to Sirius. James had no idea how or why his brain could comprehend his friend's so easily. Because in essence, Sirius' thoughts, emotions, and actions got significantly more complicated with each passing day. But there was just something in Sirius' face, specifically his eyes, which James had been in tune with since the first time they met on the train. Unfortunately the mischievous laughter that was present in those grey orbs back then was certainly _not_ what was reflected in them today: passion, heavily mixed with confusion.

The bespectacled man braced himself for Sirius to continue his sentence, knowing that whatever this problem was, it was something much more serious than normal.

"…I don't know who I'm in love with."

James shook his head and grasped Sirius' shoulders, "Of course you don't, mate," he said as softly as he could, "but you know it's really love, don't you?"

Sirius nodded. "It really is."

* * *

Please review and let me know what you think!


	2. I Want to Hold Your Hand

**Disclaimer:** If I were J. K. Rowling, thus owning Harry Potter, this would not be fanfiction.

**Summary:** After a sudden, though very expected, loss of a job, Remus Lupin becomes the Potter's housekeeper and gardener. Meanwhile, Sirius Black needs all of the help he can get in order to snag the so-called love of his life, and the only way to keep from making a fool out of himself is to get dating lessons from Remus. Voids are filled with fragrant flowers and sweet emotions.

There will be slash in this story, though not right away.

**Author's Note:** I am SOOOOOOO sorry times a million for this chapter being so late. I _promise_ that I haven't given up on this story. Nope, I'm just getting started! I also apologize for how dark this chapter ended up. The story's actually supposed to be a romantic comedy/drama type thing. I just needed to get the dark bits over with so that we can get on with the rest of the story. Also, a tremendous thanks to **doepatronus, RL4SBnotNT, tvanmusicgal, rekahneko, SetTheTruthFree, 2Padfoot00Moony8,** and **Moonsign** for supporting my story so far with your reviews! I love you guys. Anyway, please enjoy this extra long chapter two!!!

**The Gardener of Godric's Hollow**

By: Risu-chan

Chapter Two: **I Want to Hold Your Hand**

It had been six days, seven hours, and forty-one minutes since Sirius Black had done anything idiotic; six days, seven hours, and fifty-six minutes since Remus Lupin and Lily Potter had gotten whacked in the heads with the swinging kitchen door they just happened to have their ears pressed up against; and six days, seven hours, and fifty-seven minutes since James Potter gave up on anything being normal in his life. Every chance he got, James prayed that the nine days, eighteen hours, and three minutes left until their break from the Ministry was over would go by as quickly as possible.

Well, there _were_ other things James could have been praying for, things that mattered a little more in the long run. But by the time the day of Remus' registration had arrived, he felt as though he should have done more to help Remus cope. Remus had, in fact, been a bloody mess since that fateful Saturday morning. He hadn't been eating right or sleeping right or doing anything social. And when Lily had invited him to dinner the previous night, he wouldn't even touch the tremendous pork roast she had cooked especially for him. Instead, Remus munched dejectedly on the garden salad, his face pale despite the full moon being at least a fortnight away.

Sirius would have commented that Remus was trying to act as un-werewolfish as possible before the big day. "Would have" being the key words here, as Sirius had hardly uttered a single phrase since his little revelation in the kitchen. So, with all of his friends acting like complete shut-ins (including Peter, who couldn't even be arsed to show up for Sunday tea anymore), James had only his wife to converse with.

"The way those two are acting, it's like Remus is going to die or something!" James rubbed his temples as he spoke.

Lily looked up from her crossword a smiled at him. "Then why don't you just go with them and save them from kicking the bucket?"

"The problem is, I really can't do that."

"What? Why?"

James shook his head. "Because I'm pretty sure Sirius wants to be the one to comfort him right now, even if he hasn't done a very good job of it all week. But sometimes I can just tell when those two want me to butt out. Like on the morning after the full moon, I can just _tell_ when Sirius doesn't want me to be near Remus. I can feel the vibes," he made wiggling hand motions, "It's always been like this."

"And since you love them, you're going to respect their unspoken wishes," Lily whispered, leaning her forehead against his. James nodded. They sat awkwardly like that for a few moments. "How romantic!" Lily shrieked suddenly, causing James to topple backwards in his chair, limbs sprawled in all directions.

"What?" he croaked. But his wife only grinned sheepishly and grabbed his hand to help him stand up. Yep. It was official: James was the only normal person left in the world.

After a few moments of sitting in another semi-uncomfortable silence, Lily spoke up. "So what's Sirius going to do about Amos Diggory?"

Her husband's eyes widened. "How many times are you going to try to catch me off guard today?"

"Oh many more, I can assure you," she smiled wickedly as she spoke, tucking shiny red hair behind her ears. "But seriously, has Sirius been barmy this week because of Amos or because of Remus?"

"Well, I would assume both, I guess."

"Both, you _guess."_

"Yes, both." James was hit with sudden déjà vu.

"No, I mean why do you _guess?_ Haven't you even _spoken _with Sirius about the whole 'in love' thing since last week? Remus and I have been dying to know what the bloody hell is going on with him! Well, maybe not so much Remus. He didn't seem too thrilled about the whole thing, really. I don't blame him, though. I mean, _Amos Diggory?_ If anyone was more of a pompous airhead than you and Sirius, it would be him, no question."

Ignoring the jab to his ego, James took a long, deep breath as he pondering on how exactly he should explain this predicament to her. As his mind raced, he remembered one rather odd conversation he'd had with Sirius the previous day…

"_Prongs!"…"JAMES!"…"__**POTTER!!**__"_

_James snorted and jerked awake, glancing around the room for a few seconds as the shock of sudden consciousness wore off. Finally, his gaze met with the fireplace, and his eyes narrowed. "What the _fuck_ Padfoot! Can't you ever intrude on someone's free time in a _normal_ fashion? I wouldn't mind if you at least owled me ahead of time or something!"_

"_It wouldn't be called "intruding" then, would it?"_

"_You do know that the sentence you just spoke broke yesterday's record of three words."_

"_Shut up! I can leave if I'm not welcome here."_

"_Since when do you _leave_ when you're not welcome?"_

"_Since…oh for Merlin's sake, Prongs. I need advice." James shot him a look. "Okay, I'm sorry for not talking to you all week. I've just been…"_

"_Worried about Moony? You're not the only one."_

"_Yeah, I know. But listen, this "feeling" I've been getting is driving me crazy! Ever since I told you about being in love, my mind's been racing—"_

"_Ouch. Does it hurt?"_

"_I'm going to ignore that statement on the sole reason that I know you actually want me to continue talking to you." James smiled as Sirius explained exactly what had come to his mind the moment that stupid comment had left his mouth. "Anyway, I just can't pick out which of these feelings, which are really painful I might add, are because of this stupid unrequited love…and which ones are because of Remus. _

"_Maybe it's both."_

"_What? Both?"_

"_Or maybe they're the same feeling."_

_Sirius stared at him dumbly, blushing slightly out of embarrassment, though it was hard to tell with his head projected in flames. "Lily's driven you mad, hasn't she?"_

"_No, I'm being…serious." They both laughed, Sirius' sounding a bit forced. "I think you like Remus."_

"_WHAT!?" the animagus spluttered. "No I don't!"_

_James knelt down in front of the fireplace to be level with Sirius. Fighting down a smirk, he spoke calmly, "You're joking, right? Well _I _like Remus."_

"_WHAT THE HELL PRONGS, YOU'RE MARRIED!"_

"_Ha! So you admit that you think about Remus romantically!"_

"_NO! No I don't!" He grabbed his head with both hands and dug his fingers into his hair. His face might have been red, but again, the flames are great for concealing that type of emotion._

_James smirked at his friend's obvious discomfort. "Then why did you automatically assume that I meant "like" to be romantic? I was merely speaking in terms of friendship, dear Padfoot."_

"_I hate you. I'm leaving."_

"_I love you too, Pads. Though not in _that_ way," James joked as he slid his glasses higher up on the bridge of his nose. "You still coming to lunch tomorrow?"_

"_It was my idea, you git." And with that, an aggravated Sirius head spun around a few times in the flames before disappearing. James stared at the place where his friend's head had been for a good few minutes. This problem of Sirius' just seemed to be getting more confusing by the day. And what had meant to be a joke about Remus turned into something slightly unexpected…_

James Potter snapped back into reality as his wife flicked him in the nose. "What's the matter?"

James frowned and rubbed his nose. "Lily, in all those chats you have with Remus, has he ever told you about having a crush on anyone?"

Lily thought for a moment. "Well, he's told me about guys he's gone out with and guys he wants to go out with. But I don't know if he's ever mentioned a _crush_. Unlike you and Sirius, Remus was beyond that type of thing in back in Hogwarts."

"No, I don't mean back in school, I mean right now! Doesn't Remus fancy anyone?"

"Right now, I think all Remus wants is that Calming Draught I've been trying to brew for him. But why the sudden interest in _Remus'_ love life? I thought we were talking about…hang on." Lily grinned.

James caught the glint in her eye and matched it. "Once this whole ordeal is over, should we go for it?"

The red-haired woman slipped one knee into her husband's lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I like the way you think, Potter."

MWPP

Lunch at the Cauldron had, in fact, been Sirius' idea…the only one he had voiced all week. After lunch, Remus and Sirius would proceed straight to the Ministry for the registration. Remus could have picked any day to do this, really. He had until August 25th, for Merlin's sake. But he claimed that he wanted to make sure Sirius wasn't going to be too busy with work to escort him.

Still, it had come as a complete shock to the group when he asked Sirius to come with him so soon after the law had gone into effect. They had all assumed he would wait until the last possible minute to face the music, getting in as many hours at Flourish & Blotts as he could before, well, he couldn't. But then again, Remus was a braver man than any of them, so they really couldn't argue with his decisions.

It being the day that Remus needed their support the most, even Peter showed up to eat with them, which was still quite shocking given the fact that nobody had seen him in a fortnight. Even more shocking, however, were the reactions Remus and Sirius got as they entered the Leaky Cauldron in dress robes to join James, Lily, and Peter, who had on more appropriate attire for a wizarding pub. Gideon Prewett whistled loudly as they passed, so Sirius smiled toothily and sent him a choice hand gesture.

"Oh Remus, I love your dress robes! Green is such a handsome color on you!" cried Lily as Remus slid across from her in the booth they had chosen.

Peter, who was seated at the far end of the table and in the process of stuffing an entire breadstick into his mouth, tried to respond, "Oh, they're actually my—OOF! Padfoot!"

Remus cocked his head to one side as Peter glared daggers at Sirius. The werewolf had spent a good portion of the previous day using every transfiguration method he could think of to transform his horribly shabby dress robes into something nice to wear for his appearance at the Department. Then, miraculously, in his closet that morning he found that all his hard work had paid off overnight, leaving him with brilliantly gorgeous green dress robes.

Ignoring Sirius' current attempts to shove breadsticks up Peter's nose, he turned to James, who was yawning into his butterbeer. "Have you seen Dumbledore recently? I heard he's trying to put something together…" Remus immediately shut up when James and Sirius simultaneously jumped in their seats.

"Zip it, Moony! Merlin,we're in the _Cauldron_, not the sitting room!" James' eyes grew wide and frightened as he spoke.

Lily's eyes, however, narrowed. "Not like you'd discuss it there, either."

"Oooh, harsh!" chimed Sirius. "But might I suggest we eat some food before we continue to eat each other?" he snapped his fingers and Tom the barman worked his way over to them.

The marauders and Lily ate their food in a rather disturbing silence. James and Lily each wanted to break the anxiety with an upbeat conversation, but such topics were scarce at times like these, especially with the beginnings of a war looming over their heads. Sirius was breathing too quickly and eating too slowly, running a hand through his hair and glancing at Remus every twenty seconds or so. Remus had again resigned to munching dejectedly on the only food he had ordered—a garden salad—his face ghostly white. Peter cocked his head to one side as he noticed Remus' meatless diet. His watery gaze shot from James to Sirius, and then back to James.

Suddenly, Peter started coughing like the devil was caught in his throat. On cue, James immediately stood up and began thumping his friend on the back while offering him some water. Sirius cracked a smile and began to chuckle as Lily and Remus stared wide-eyed at the apparently choking boy sitting in front of them.

"What's so funny, Sirius? Your friend is _choking_!" Lily shrieked.

Sirius shook his head. "No he isn't. Wormtail just ate too fast and got indigestion. Happens all the bloody time, he's perfectly alright."

"Well he doesn't look 'perfectly alright' to me! James, his face is bright green! I think you ought to stop punching his back like that!" cried Remus as he raised his wand and pointed it at Peter's throat. James stood back and shook with silent giggles.

"_Suffoco eximo!"_

As Remus cast spells at Peter, each one making him look slightly more uncomfortable than the previous, Sirius silently slipped a piece of steak onto his friend's plate. As soon as the transaction had been made, another significant glance was shared with Peter, and the erratic choking died down.

"Wow Moony, I think you're getting better at medical spells!" complimented Peter as he reached back to try and rub where James had hit him, failing miserably. The werewolf bowed and smiled, causing the corners of Sirius' mouth to twitch upward. Lily, on the other hand, looked the complete opposite of amused at the little display of incredible childishness she had just witnessed. That is, until she noticed Sirius smiling down at Remus, who was so engrossed in his conversation with Peter that he hadn't noticed the pieces of meat making their way from the plate into his mouth. She could already see the color returning to her friend's cheeks.

Leaning over to her husband, she whispered, "How in the name of Merlin did you manage to suddenly cheer up the Dynamic Duo of Death?"

"Practice. I can't believe Moony still falls for the whole "Wormtail's choking" bit. You'd think he would have caught on after the twentieth time or so."

"Must be Peter's acting skills, then?" Lily chuckled.

"What's that about my acting?" Peter had perked up at his name. "It's better than Padfoot's anyway! Remember when he tried out for Hamlet back in fourth year?"

As if on cue, James and Remus held their butterbeer glasses out in front of them and shouted, "Alas, poor Minerva! I knew her, and yet somehow she looks so much nicer as a scull!"

"Hey, how was I supposed to know Minnie was backstage? Besides, I'm a _Black_! We've been acting for centuries! I was just giving the play a little bit of my poetic license!"

Remus snorted as he stabbed some more meat with his fork. "Well, if your amazing acting skills can hold up 'til the end of the today, you are welcome to take some of that poetic license out on Umbridge's face."

Lily, James, and Peter laughed, but Sirius scowled. "Look Moony, I'll tell you something…"

"You want to hold my hand?" Remus said, his eyes sparkling.

Sirius jumped back, face suddenly bright red. "WHAT!? No, I was going to say…" But he couldn't finish. Lily and Remus shrieked with laughter and James thumped Sirius on the back.

"None of us want to see you in a mood where you don't even get Beatles references, mate?"

"Sod off Prongs!"

"Ah, _now_ you're back to your old self!"

"AS I WAS SAYING…" Sirius then lowered his voice to a whisper, "I swear I would protect you if you decided not to register."

Everyone at the table stared at him, dumbfounded. Another long, pregnant silence followed, during which a loud belch from Peter was all that could be heard. As James and Sirius burst out laughing, Remus sighed and glanced at Peter. They never gave him enough credit when it came to lightening moods.

"It's alright, Sirius," Remus said quietly as soon as the laughing had died down. "You should know better than anyone that I hate breaking the rules. I mean, you do realize that your help in something like that will only land both our asses in Azkaban, right?" Sirius nodded slowly, avoiding eye contact. He felt Remus' fingers slip over his own. "And besides," the werewolf squeezed Sirius hands, "Your protection today is what I really need right now."

Just then, Sirius looked into his friend's tired, golden eyes and realized exactly why this whole ordeal couldn't wait a few extra weeks. If Remus didn't register before he had the chance to second-guess himself, he probably wouldn't go at all.

An embarrassed blush crept up Sirius' cheeks as the other man let go of his hands. "So, uhh…" Sirius groped around in his mind for a quick conversation change. He glanced over at James and Lily. "So how's the sex?"

MWPP

It took Lily a good fifteen minutes to heal Sirius' black eye. Peter left the meal early, claiming he had a "meeting" again, though none of them were really sure what that excuse ever meant. According to Sirius it meant secret prostitutes in Knockturn Alley. But then again, in Sirius' mind, what _didn't_ meant secret prostitutes in Knockturn Alley?

As soon as James and Lily finished taking turns hugging the life out of Remus, the two canines in dress robes began their walk to the Ministry headquarters. Remus had forgotten how close in proximity the Ministry building was to the Leaky Cauldron. He had actually been hoping the walk would be long, just so he could enjoy his last few moments as a free man. But at least he had Sirius' company, which was all that mattered.

Unfortunately they had to use the visitor's entrance to the Ministry, as Sirius was not allowed to let a guest use the employee Floo network. Normally, this would not have been such a bad experience. But soon after the two of them squeezed into the Muggle telephone booth, out shot a glittery badge flashing "Remus Lupin: Werewolf Registration Appointment, Beast Division" in bright, very readable lettering.

Remus groaned. "Perfect. Now all I need is a tattoo across my forehead of the phases of the moon and a 'come near me with silver and I'll tear out your liver' t-shirt."

"Oh come on. You know you'd wear that shirt around your flat if I got it for you!" Sirius punched him lightly in the arm as they both began laughing. Remus glanced up at Sirius and suddenly realized how uncomfortably small Muggle telephone booths were. Their shoulders and chests touched lightly, and they could feel each other breathing for the 30 seconds it took for the booth to lower itself into the Atrium of the Ministry.

Sirius noticed Remus' increased heartbeat and looked down at him. Remus' amber eyes looked gigantic and his face was extremely flushed. He smiled at his tawny-haired friend. "It's okay to be nervous, Rem. But don't worry, I'll be with you the whole time."

"Oh, I'm not nervous." He actually wasn't, at least not at that very second. He wouldn't admit it, but Sirius had a certain calming effect on people when he wasn't acting like a lunatic. Remus' heartbeat, however, seemed to be trying to prove him wrong.

"Oi, Black, Lupin! Have you been Petrified or something?" Frank Longbottom, one of Sirius and James' fellow junior Aurors, was standing in the Atrium, staring at the two of them through the telephone booth's glass.

Sirius chuckled. "Or something," he said as he and Remus, who had turned even redder than before, squeezed out of the booth and onto the highly polished wood floor of the Atrium. The three of them set off at a rather brisk pace toward the other end of the hall, Remus trying desperately to inconspicuously use Sirius as a way to hide his badge and flushed face from Frank. "What brings you here, Frank?" Sirius inquired, registering the meaning behind Remus' suddenly shy behavior. He and Remus both knew that the werewolf issue couldn't be hidden for much longer, but out of courtesy he would try to keep Frank from noticing Remus' badge.

Frank, with an ever-present smile shining on his face, told them, "Just finished visiting the Mrs. at her part-time job. This break they're giving us is really taking a toll on our rent money!"

"Oh yeah, I agree." Remus refrained from rolling his eyes as Sirius said this. He knew his friend was only trying to be polite, but the truth was, Sirius had more money than all of their school friends put together. Frank probably knew this, but his smile hardly wavered as they continued to chatter on, briefly stopping in front of a departure fireplace.

"Nice dress robes. What are you blokes up to today?" Frank glanced at Sirius' badge, which read "Junior Auror, Accompanying Visitor", and then tried to catch a glimpse of Remus'. Remus pretended to scratch and itch, covering his badge with his hand.

Sirius looked over at the slightly panicky Remus and then whipped out his pocket watch. "Hey listen Frank, we'll catch up later, okay? We have to go to um, a meeting," said Sirius, not making eye contact.

"Yeah? Which department?"

"See you later, Frank." The two of them dashed quickly away from a very bewildered, but still smiling, Frank Longbottom. A few seconds later, they heard him call out his street address and step into the fire.

"_That_ was a close one," said Sirius as they approached the security desk to register Remus' wand, "It's sure as hell a good thing you picked today to come. Longbottom aside, I can't believe the building is so empty today!"

Remus scanned the Atrium and smiled. "You're right—uh oh."

"What…oh. Oh no." Sirius and Remus now stood face-to-face with the woman behind the security desk.

"What, you boys aren't happy to see me?" Alice Longbottom's booming voice echoed around the entire hall.

Remus began fidgeting and turned his back to her slightly. Sirius gave their old classmate an awkward smile. "Forget it Alice. So this is your part-time job?"

Alice beamed. "Took me a while to find something at the Ministry." She turned to Remus, who was looking at her sideways, though still trying to seem interested. "They won't let us Aurors take other jobs outside the government, you know." She winked at Remus, and then frowned. "What's the matter, Remus? Did Black drag you on a tour against your will, you poor thing," he opened his mouth to retort, but Alice continued, "Well I suppose we should stop the chitchat. I'm not exactly supposed to converse with the visitors, you know. Just check their wands and the like. Can I see your badge and wand, Remus?"

Remus' insides lurched. This was it: his first step away from the normal wizarding society he had been blessed with for so long. He was able to hide from Frank, who had always been a bit naïve, but there was no escaping something like the security desk of the Ministry of Magic. Slowly, he turned around to show Alice the silver badge on his chest.

Sirius quickly blocked him and played the pocket watch card again. "Listen Alice, we're a little late, so could you just let Remus slide? You and I both know he wouldn't try anything too daring." He winked, causing Alice's usually pink face to flush even more.

"I'm sorry, boys. But you know the Ministry law. If visitors don't comply to security checks, I'm supposed to send them straight to Magical Law Enforcement." She did look genuinely sorry as she told them this.

Remus sighed and nudged Sirius out of his way. "It's okay, Sirius." _It's only Alice, after all. _Alice had been Lily's best female friend during their Hogwarts days, and Remus had spent many long hours in the library chatting with the two of them about literature and love lives. In fact, along with Lily, Alice had been one of the first people to know about his homosexuality.

He took a deep breath and showed her the badge as he pulled out his wand. Remus was visibly shaking and extremely pale, and Sirius didn't look much better. Alice stared wide-eyed at the badge that was now visible to her, mouthing the words "werewolf registration." Suddenly, she shrieked and tried to throw herself at Remus over the countertop. "Oh, Rem—" was all she got out before Sirius' quick reflexes shot her a silencing spell. Nevertheless, this didn't stop Alice from finishing her leap over the counter. Before Remus could dash off in the other direction, he had been tackled by the same fierce bear hug he'd received after coming out of the closet. Though he couldn't hear her understanding sobs, Alice's tears stained his dress robes as her head buried into his shoulder.

Sirius, who still had his wand out, looked shocked and fidgety. "Um, you guys are making a bit of a scene, you know." Remus took one look at the obviously awkward Sirius and burst out laughing, though tears came to his eyes for a completely different reason.

"Sirius, if you could reverse the spell on Alice, that would be fantastic." Sirius sighed and lifted the spell. Alice let go of Remus and made her way back to the other side of the counter, looking apologetic and puffy-eyed.

Remus was so relieved by Alice's accepting hug, that he almost hadn't heard her next words. "Remus, I'm supposed to keep your wand here until your appointment is finished."

"WHAT!?" shouted Sirius, but Remus put a shaky hand on his shoulder.

"I understand. Please take good care of it, Alice." Alice smiled at Remus and automatically burst into tears again. She had never been great with words.

"It-it's on the f-fourth floor, b-boys," she told them through sniffles.

MWPP

The euphoria of being accepted by another person put a tiny spring in Remus' step as he and Sirius boarded the elevator. His smile reversed, however, when Sirius grabbed his hand. "What's the matter, Sirius?"

"We're on the level four."

"Already?" he breathed, the anxiety washing back over him in waves. The elevator door opened and the two of them stepped out together. The room they saw outside the elevator was not at all what they had expected or prepared for. For the most part, departments at the Ministry were decorated and designed to accommodate for their specialties. The Department for Magical Law Enforcement was crowded and hectic, with bills and laws posted on the wall, and many libraries and portraits of former department heads to refer to. The Department of Mysteries was designed to be as mysterious as its name, with secret rooms that not even employees knew the contents of. The Auror Offices were dimly lit and filled with desks, paperwork, and an array of dark magic detectors, as well as a large security unit incase of break-ins. Sirius and Remus had both assumed that the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures would be smelly and dark, with taxidermy mounted on the wall and the growls of angry beasts coming from dangerous high-security rooms. Sirius had once heard a rumor that cage-matches between sentenced dragons and giants took place in this department. His mother had also told him that disloyal house elves were fed to hungry griffins in the back rooms.

Instead, the department was dull and scarcely populated, with a few reception desks and hallways leading to tiny offices. At the center of the common area was a large glass tank holding tropical fish that changed colors and shrunk people approached. The two friends were stunned to silence as a few owls swept in and out of a window, delivering notes to the secretaries at the desk. "Maybe they keep the dragons in one of those little offices," Sirius remarked. Remus looked at him and shook his head.

"Maybe." They stood in front of the elevator, taking in the atmosphere of the room for another few seconds. "You can let go of my hand now, Padfoot." Sirius jumped and drew back his hand, eyes bulging and face flushed.

"Can I help you gentlemen?" came an airy voice from the desk in the far corner. A bored, bespectacled secretary beckoned Remus and Sirius forward. Once they came into her complete view, a blush formed on the secretary's cheeks. "Sirius Black, eh?" She set down her glasses and leaned forward towards Sirius. He winced and drew back slowly. "I've heard a lot about you from my friends in the Auror division. The name's Bertha Jorkins," she winked at him and held out her hand. "How's your holiday been?" Remus sighed. _Now_ they've done it. Sirius would probably stand around and chat up the secretary for a good twenty minutes until Remus would finally kick him in the shins and remind him why they came. Sirius would then most likely tell the girl he'd Floo her and look distracted for the rest of their visit, while leaving Remus to deal with his issues on his own. Remus decided to skip right to walking away while leaving Sirius to flirt.

"Fine, thank you. Oi, Rem! Where are you off to?" Remus stopped and turned around out of pure shock. Sirius shot him a perplexed look just as the secretary shot him an annoyed one for interrupting her chance with Sirius Black. _What the hell, _thought Remus as he rejoined them. But this wasn't time or place to dwell on the strange new behaviors of his friend. They needed to get this registration thing over with before he got cold feet.

"Ms. Jorkins, my name is Remus Lupin and I am here to…to reg-register…" he gulped and suddenly about-faced to make a dash back towards the elevator. But a strong hand gripped his shoulder again, and he felt courage trickle warmly back into him from Sirius' touch. Bertha Jorkins looked intensely frustrated by the situation.

"Are you here for a werewolf registration?" she said shortly.

"Umm…I…"

"WELL _ARE_ YOU!?"

"Don't you _dare_ talk to Remus that way." Was this a dream? Sirius was actually reprimanding a beautiful woman for Remus' sake?

"I'll apologize if you Floo me sometime."

"Like **hell** I will!" Sirius roared.

"Jorkins," someone quietly called from a nearby office, "kindly tell me why you are once again causing a disturbance during my office hours." The office's door opened to reveal a short, toadlike woman in her thirties, fully clad in what looked like every single pink garment in London. There was only possible person this could be…

"Merlin save me, it's one of the dark creatures from the high-security rooms," Sirius whispered into Remus' ear, only to be surprised when his friend didn't even grin.

Remus took the deepest breath Sirius had ever seen, and took one brave step toward Dolores Umbridge. She scowled up at him with her bugged-out eyes and said in a sickly sweet manner, "Yes?"

"I am here to register as a werewolf."

Umbridge cleared her throat and said plainly, "Very good, very good. Mister Black!" Sirius leapt backwards when suddenly addressed.

"What?" he barked, slightly annoyed.

"Since there are no Aurors on duty today in this department, consider this to be your first real assignment."

"What?" he said again, exchanging confused glances with Remus.

Umbridge revealed her best icy smile. "You are going to help me restrain this half breed while it registers."

"_**EXCUSE ME!?**_" Both Remus and Umbridge winced at Sirius' harsh, booming voice.

"There is hardly a need to use that tone with me, Mister Black. All I will ask you to do is bind his hands and make sure he does not try to harm me in any way."

"Oh believe me, _Madame_…it's much more likely **I **will harm you if you make me do this. I refuse!"

Umbridge's bone-chilling smile did not waver. "Don't be silly, of course you will do this for me. Otherwise, it is in my power as senior undersecretary to the Minister of Magic to fire you from the Ministry."

Sirius stamped his foot. "Do your worst—"

"—Sirius, **please!**" cried Remus, grabbing his arm tightly, his amber eyes gleaming with the onset of tears. "I don't want you fired! Just do what she says, if not for your sake, then for mine!" _This way, you can stay with me every step of the way,_ he mentally added.

After silent pleas and unspoken reassurances that this would not come between them as friends, Sirius reluctantly cast a binding spell on Remus' hands. "Thank you, Mister Black. Now, if you could kindly follow me into this office. The standard procedures and interrogation should not last very long if you behave."

Remus immediately shot Sirius a look that clearly said _"Please do __**not**__, under any circumstances, talk back to Umbridge."_ In return, Sirius quietly performed the countercurse to unbind Remus' wrists. His friend grinned, but kept his hands together to keep up the illusion.

The sign on the back on the office door read "Beast Division". It was obvious from the moment they stepped through the doorway that this was only a temporary workspace for Dolores Umbridge. Sirius could bet that if she had her way, a pink electric chair with chains and shackles would replace the polished wooden ones currently placed next to an old cedar table in the middle of the room. Umbridge delicately seated herself behind the desk, and ordered Remus to sit in the wooden chair facing the desk, while Sirius was to guard him from behind. The toad-woman glared disgustedly at Remus as she pulled out parchment and a quill, but that couldn't even compete with the look of absolute loathing Sirius was shooting her.

"So, let's get down to business, shall we?" she dipped her quill in the ink. Suddenly, Sirius felt a chilly, tingling sensation in his throat. It only lasted a few seconds, so he chose to dismiss it. "Mister Lupin do you admit, under penalty of a life sentence in Azkaban for failing to tell the truth, that you are a werewolf and a half breed?"

"Umm, y-ye-…." he stuttered. Without letting Umbridge notice, Sirius squeezed Remus' hand for a brief second. "Yes, Madame Umbridge. I am a werewolf."

She scribbled something on the piece of parchment, looked up, and smiled. "Very good. Your cooperation is making things very easy for us. How long have you had your transformations and how old are you now."

"Since I was n-nine years old. I am now nineteen," said Remus, gaining bravery as he continued answering the questions. She asked him about his current residence, his family, his blood purity, and his schooling at Hogwarts. Her lips pursed when she heard he had graduated in the top five of his class.

"Please explain to me again why Albus Dumbledore would let a werewolf become a Hogwarts student?" Sirius tensed up and balled his fists, readying his wand if the old hag said anything too far out of line. But she responded with looks of disgust and nothing more as Remus told her about all of the precautionary measures Dumbledore had gone through to make his life comfortable at Hogwarts.

"I assume he attached bars to your bed at night and separated you from the other students?"

Remus gulped, his face paling. "Umm, no he did not. But you see w-werewolves are only dangerous during the f-full moon. Every other day we are just like—"

"—Please, refrain from finishing that sentence, Mister Lupin. I will not tolerate being compared to a half breed." Sirius saw Remus convulse slightly, so he quickly grabbed his friend's hand again. There wasn't much more of this either of them could take. This time, Sirius positioned himself so that he could continue to hold onto Remus' hand. Despite the fading scars and the chilly atmosphere, Remus' hand felt surprisingly warm and smooth to the touch. Sirius inwardly smiled. "Anyway," Umbridge continued, "now that you have admitted to being a werewolf, you must accept that you will now be under Ministry supervision and control. The information that you are a werewolf is to be made public, and you are forbidden from using any form of curse or jinx of the third degree dark magic nature under penalty of life in Azkaban."

Remus swayed on the spot. "_What?_ But I'm a wizard of age and there's a war starting!"

"You cannot be trusted. You should count yourself lucky you even know magic at all."

Sirius couldn't take it any more. He stamped his foot and prepared himself to bellow a few choice words at the top of his lungs, "Fucking-Froghead" being at the top of his list. But as he tried to express these thoughts, nothing escaped his mouth. He grabbed his throat and realized it had gone completely numb.

"Is there something the matter, Mister Black? You look rather pained." Remus turned around to see Sirius still clutching his throat and shot him a quick apologetic grin. Sirius' eyes bugged out as he realized Remus had cast a silencing charm on him.

"Moving along…Mister Lupin, I will need your fingerprint on this document so that we may complete the registration. Mister Black, if you could unbind his hands and keep watch on him very closely?" A ten second pause followed. "_Mister Black!_" Sirius shook his head and pulled out his wand, pretending to perform the countercurse using unspoken magic.

Remus breathed a sigh of relief as he reached for the ink jar. This whole ordeal hadn't been so bad. But he couldn't help noticing Umbridge's widening grin. "Oh no, you won't be using _ink_. If you could roll up your sleeve, please?" she asked ever so sweetly. Remus reluctantly did as he was told.

He should have known better. Almost instantly, a white-hot pain seared on the skin of his upper left arm, causing him to whimper and lurch forward. Sirius grabbed him from behind and they watched in horror as Umbridge pressed a tiny silver branding iron to his skin, both of them too shocked to do anything to stop it. After releasing the silver, blood began trickling down his arm.

"Please use the thumb of your other hand to make a blood fingerprint."

MWPP

The two marauders stood outside of the office in complete silence. Remus, though still shaking furiously, had performed the countercurse on Sirius' throat. In return, Sirius used his wand to stop his friend's bleeding and alleviate some of the pain. The wound was definitely designed to leave a scar, and from the looks of it the scar was going to read "werewolf # 24" once it closed up properly.

Remus glanced at the wound and sighed. So there were twenty-three others in the United Kingdom who were brave enough to register before him. He briefly swelled with pride for them, as he could only imagine what types of lives those people were living, having never received proper wizarding educations from Hogwarts. He continued to look at his arm until he heard Sirius sigh as well. Remus looked up at the other man.

Sirius looked into his petrified friend's eyes and saw nothing but pain. But he knew better than to show to Remus that he felt sorry for him. Years of listening to "I hate pity" talks had weaned Sirius off of that particular emotion. But at this moment of weakness, Sirius wanted nothing more than to comfort and encourage Remus. To show him, somehow, that he cared. Whenever Sirius had dated someone who became scared or unsure of themselves, he always planted a chaste kiss on the top of their head (or forehead, if they happened to be taller than he was). This method _always_ worked, with no exceptions. And looking into Remus' eyes, he knew that a kiss was _exactly_ what his friend needed right now, just to assure him that people would always care for him and be there for him.

Sirius grabbed onto the dejected Remus' shoulders, and amber eyes met gray. He leaned down and fixed his eyes on a spot above Remus' forehead. Then suddenly, he remembered…

"_I think you like Remus."_

He froze, lips centimeters from the tawny-haired man's head. His action quickly changed into a fierce hug, letting Remus silently sob into his shoulder. Sirius could feel the emotion bearing into him each time Remus shivered. Once they broke apart, Sirius grabbed his friend's hand and led him back to the elevator, ignoring the scoffs coming from Bertha Jorkins as they passed. It took them a lot less time exiting the building than it had entering, but that could have been due to their quickened pace once Sirius had retrieved Remus' wand from Alice. Her pity sobs were the last thing either of them wanted to hear.

The telephone booth ride started out awkwardly silent. Then Remus sniffled a little and Sirius blurted out, "Moony, since when can you do _wandless psychic magic_!?"

Sirius beamed when he saw a smile break out on Remus' face. "Since Professor Flitwick taught us in seventh year, Padfoot. And you would have been able to perform the countercurse if you'd have paid attention instead of massaging girls' thighs during class."

"Hey, that was only the one time! And in my defense, Lily bit me the second I tried it! And then James bit me…and then…Peter, just for good measure. Oh Merlin, I was a human chew toy that day!"

Remus nudged him as they stepped out of the miniscule telephone booth and into the warm, mid-afternoon London air. "Oh you know you loved it."

Sirius winked at him. "It must have been my astoundingly sweet blood."

"Sweet blood, huh? And knowing that didn't stop you from torturing Severus all those years?"

With that, Sirius doubled over in bark-like laughter. As Remus watched his friend grab his shoulder for support, he knew there was no other person he'd rather be sharing his last day as a normal wizard with.


	3. A Hard Day's Night

FIRST AND FOREMOST: Sorry about having to repost the content of this chapter. Apparently somehow it posted my fic before I had the chance to edit it.

**Disclaimer:** It would be very difficult to claim ownership of Harry Potter when also claiming to be posting a _fan_fic.

**Summary:** After a sudden, though very expected, loss of a job, Remus Lupin becomes the Potter's housekeeper and gardener. Meanwhile, Sirius Black needs all of the help he can get in order to snag the so-called love of his life, and the only way to keep from making a fool out of himself is to get dating lessons from Remus. Voids are filled with fragrant flowers and sweet emotions.

There will be slash in this story, though not right away.

**Author's Note:** I apologize in advance for the abundance of dialogue and lack of…whatever else could potentially be here instead of conversation. 'Tis my specialty. A warm, fuzzy thank-you to my lovely reviewers this time around: **rekahneko, Miss Avery, Moonsign, RL4SBnotNT, Wuff, arabellaw, LouisaB, ProtegoNox, **and** JesterBellsILove**. You are wonderful and make me very happy.

On another note, I changed the name of the first chapter because I kinda like the little theme I have going here. Also, in the near future my bestest friend **hpgryffy** will have beta-read my chapters so that I can fix grammatical and structural problems. Anyway, on to the feature presentation!

**The Gardener of Godric's Hollow**

By: Risu-chan

Chapter Three: **A Hard Day's Night**

"Aarrg! Bloody hell I can't take this anymore!" James Potter suddenly screamed at the top of his lungs.

"What? James, what's wrong!" his wife rushed out of the kitchen, frying pan in hand and red hair flying wildly out behind her. She skidded to a halt when she noticed the bored expression on her husband's face.

"I just can't believe how dull a holiday from the Ministry can be! They should be paying us _extra_ for this inconvenience!"

Lily Potter's eyebrows furrowed and her fists clenched. "James I swear, the next time you scare me like that I'm going to split our bed in half—"

"Oh Merlin please don't…" James ducked as his wife's hand whacked him upside the head in a less than gentle manner.

Sirius Black, who'd been watching this whole ordeal from the sitting room, chuckled as he magically cleaned up the letter he'd splattered ink on when his friend had hollered.

James shot a dark look at the back of Sirius' head. "You think this is funny? Just a few days ago you were a nervous wreck! Have some bloody compassion!"

The long-haired marauder slowly turned his head and said with a grin, "Wanna go pester Moony before his shift ends?"

The two of them stared at each other and then broke out into identical, evil smiles. That is, until a frying pan clocked James square in the head. "You WILL NOT, under any circumstance, 'pester Moony'!" Lily reprimanded, her hands attached to her hips. "You of all people should know how hard things are for him right now. Don't you remember how stressed out he looked yesterday?"

Sirius grinned mischievously and stood up. "Oh but that's exactly it, my dear Mrs. Potter." Lily pursed her lips. "Now is the perfect time to put a little marauder magic in Remus' day." Then, Sirius gave her a completely different, and somehow gentler smile than the previous. She cocked her head to one side and couldn't help noticing how infrequently she saw such a natural smile on his face. "Whether he realizes it or not, Moony _always_ needs us to brighten his day. _It's what's we live for_."

"I…" Lily was stunned to silence by the sincerity of his words. Damn Sirius Black and his odd charms. She's been able to avoid them at school by steering clear of the boy, but it was hard to do so when married to his best friend. Finally, she said, "Okay, well I can't stop Sirius from going…but—"

"But Lily!" James whined.

She turned to her husband. "You promised me you were going to fix that sorry excuse for a garden in the backyard!"

"Aw, we both know nothing's gonna grow in that pile of rubbish if _I_ try to fix it!" James began rubbing his temples. "Why can't you have a go at it yourself?"

Lily scowled and turned to Sirius, who was grinning. "Was he always this whiney at school?"

"Only when talking about you."

She nodded. "Of course. Anyway, James, we both know your Herbology marks were ten times better than mine at Hogwarts. I didn't even take the NEWT level." Her eyes bore into her husband's, as fiery and stubborn as the first time he'd asked her to Hogsmeade. James nodded and continued rubbing his temples. "I'm glad you see things my way."

"My marks were only better because I copied off Remus," James whispered to Sirius as Lily strode back into the kitchen.

"What was that?" she called back to them.

"Nothing!" cried James. "Well, Padfoot. I guess you got what _you_ wanted. Not that you needed Lily's permission anyway."

Sirius laughed. "What's up with that wife of yours? Why's she acting so mental?"

James' eyebrows rose. "She didn't tell you?" Sirius shook his head. "Dumbledore's asked her to be potions master for the Order. He was originally going to ask, well…you know…" They paused for a moment, looking somber.

"Yeah. But couldn't he have gotten someone like Slughorn to do it? Merlin knows that old lummox could use some exercise."

"I've no idea what types of disgusting social events Slughorn's been organizing while Dumbledore's been desperate for members. But given the circumstances, Lily is all he has. And if I don't figure out why in the hell nothing grows in that godforsaken dump outside, she isn't going to be able to make any potions."

"Damn." Sirius shrugged and bent over to tie his shoes.

James shook his head and grinned at his friend. "Anyway, what's with all the misty-eyed_ 'it's what we live for' _rubbish? Are you trying to seduce my wife?"

Sirius looked up with a genuinely surprised look on his face. "What?"

Once again, a Potter was taken aback by Sirius' facial expression. James thought about the situation for a moment and a smile crept onto his face. "Never mind, mate. Enjoy your Moony badgering." Sirius punched him in the arm and opened the front door to leave. "Don't do anything that I wouldn't do," James added.

"Get Moony plastered. Gotcha."

The door closed, leaving James standing in the foyer with a bemused expression on his face. Lily left the kitchen, walking up and wrapping her arms around him from behind. "What are you thinking about?" she asked, noticing his expression.

"Sirius."

"His moods have been a little funny recently. One week he's smitten, the next he's jittery, and now he's acting just a little too sincere. I'll bet you anything it's Amos Diggory's doing."

James looked at her briefly and debated whether it would be wise to break Sirius' trust and tell her that when faced with the question of who he was in love with, Sirius had glanced over at the garden shovel propped up against the back door. Diggory had just been the first name that popped into Sirius' love-struck head.

"Amos Diggory has nothing to do with this, does he?"

James shrugged. "You didn't hear it from me." She shot him a look that clearly said, 'no, but I'm about to'.

MWPP

There was something about Diagon Alley in the summertime that made Sirius' heart flutter. Of course, his heart had been doing that sort of thing for a few months now, but the Diagon Alley feeling was different. Diagon Alley was cheerfulness. Diagon Alley was culture. And most importantly of all, Diagon Alley was _his_ culture. His mother had only taken Regulus and himself to this extraordinary place when they had whined about staying home with Kreacher. Even then, they spent most of their time in Knockturn Alley running errands for their father. During his Hogwarts years, Sirius' mother alone did his school shopping, not wanting her son to "liaison with his traitorous Gryffindor friends outside of school". He did so anyway, of course, but never in the shopping district.

But now Sirius was an adult…alone in Diagon Alley for the shear pleasure of being alone in Diagon Alley. While a warm breeze in Muggle London was decidedly boring, a warm breeze in an all-magic setting made him feel positively giddy. And he was even happier knowing where he was going today. Sirius understood his feelings were becoming weirder and weirder with each passing day, and he was starting to come to terms with them. After the whole werewolf registration adventure, he somehow felt that his whole purpose of existence should really be to make his friends happier during these increasingly dark times. But James had Lily, and Peter had those prostitutes he was always in denial about. So that left Remus' happiness as his sole purpose in life. Well, that and helping Dumbledore. That fact that he was in love with an unknown person would have to wait until the war was over.

Sirius Apparated to the entrance of Flourish & Blotts and peered through the front window. He shook his head and smiled as he noticed parents already taking their Hogwarts children book shopping in mid-July. Well they did have the right idea, as the August book signings always brought boisterous crowds. Then out of the corner of Sirius' eye, he noticed a familiar mop of tawny hair just visible over a display rack. He grinned and moved away from the window before Remus could catch a glimpse of him.

A jingling bell across the street caught Sirius' attention. Florean Fortescue appeared to have just returned from his break. A few minutes later, Sirius emerged from the ice-cream parlor with two gigantic chocolate sundaes. He distinctly remembered reading in the _Prophet_ that this week was the beginning of a business partnership between Florean Fortescue's and Honeydukes, so the chocolate sundaes would now be made with Honeydukes' finest. Considering how busy and flustered Remus seemed to have been all week, he probably hadn't tried the dessert yet.

Casting a non-melting charm on the ice cream, Sirius quietly slipped into the bookshop, careful not to let the bells on the doorknob ring too loudly as he entered. He glanced in the direction of the display rack he'd seen his friend hovering near earlier, but Remus had obviously gone off to do something else, as now there were only browsing customers and antsy children in that section.

It never took very long for him to find Remus at work. Sirius had had seven years of practice, searching for the werewolf among the towering shelves of the Hogwarts Library. If someone wanted to look for him among shelves of books, they always made the mistake of looking straight ahead. But if there was one thing Sirius knew, it was that Remus was always crouched down on the Floor, his fingers tracing the spine of something new and fascinating.

And this is how Sirius found him today, lost in thought as he held a rather glossy book out him front of him. After a few minutes of watching his friend read the back cover of the book, Sirius realized that something seemed a little off. Usually Remus had more dignity than to sit around in the middle of an aisle for more than thirty seconds while he was supposed to be working. Nevertheless, Sirius took out his wand and hid himself on the other side of the shelf that Remus was leaning against.

Remus had been _dying_ to read the new _Magic and Muggle Philosophy _book ever since he'd read about it in the book reviews section of the _Prophet_. He'd been surprised that it had taken an entire month for the book to arrive in stock at the shop. But now that he had his hands on it, plus there seemed to be an absence of customers in his vicinity, there was no harm in taking just a little peek.

He carefully opened the shiny new cover and flipped to the table of contents. After quickly glancing around one more time to make sure no one was there, Remus lifted the open book a little closer to his face and took in a whiff of that new book smell he loved so much.

Something was completely wrong here. He was almost _positive_ he smelled chocolate coming from the book. But…but that can't be right? He certainly loved the smell of chocolate just as much as he loved the smell of books, but how on Earth could they be all of a sudden one in the same? He frowned, unsure if his two favorite things should be allowed to intermingle. However upon looking around one more time, he noticed the problem.

An enormous chocolate sundae was hovering a little above the ground just centimeters from where he sat. Remus furrowed his eyebrows. If he'd been a Muggle, he would have assumed he was on some sort of drug trip. But since he was very well versed in the arts of magic, he knew that a floating chocolate sundae was highly possible, though not very probable. However, what happened next _did_ make him begin fearing for his sanity.

"Hullo Remus," said the ice cream in a high, though most likely male, voice.

He squinted at the sundae and turned his head slightly. "…what?"

The ice cream floated upwards until it was directly in front of Remus' face. "I said, hullo Remus! Won't you please taste me?"

"E-excuse me?"

"I would _love_ to feel your mouth on my whipped cream," it squeaked suggestively.

Remus tried to scoot away from the possible hallucination. "Oh Merlin, I need to get more sleep," he muttered to himself.

"No, Moony! Don't go to sleep! I want you to lick my chocolate _all over_," moaned the frozen dish of concentrated evil. Remus' expression changed from confusion to comprehension in less than a second. He sighed and hit his forehead with the palm of his hand.

"Sirius, is this the new Honeydukes ice cream?"

"I'm not Sirius, I'm your chocolaty fantasy come to life! Don't you love me?"

"Padfoot, if you don't supply me with a spoon in five seconds, I'll lock you in the children's reading room."

Quickly deciding to resign, Sirius emerged from the other side of the bookshelf Remus had been leaning up against. "That hurts, Moony," he pouted, his hand over his heart. Remus shook his head and grabbed the spoon his friend handed him. "How did you know it was me?" Sirius asked, absentmindedly raking a hand through his hair.

Remus looked at him in disbelief. "Who else do I know that calls me Moony and can't utter a single sentence without making a sexual innuendo?"

"I don't make that kind of joke _all _the time. It could have been Prongs," Sirius said, watching Remus savor the chocolate sauce that was dripping from the ice cream into his mouth.

Remus swallowed a spoonful of ice cream and smiled contently. "Yes you do. And where is Prongs anyway? Usually you guys are accomplices in this sort of thing."

Sirius yawned and took a bite from his own sundae. "He's tending to Lily's garden."

The werewolf snorted. "This proves my point exactly."

A grin spread on Sirius' face. "I wasn't making an innuendo, you sick bastard. He's _seriously_ gardening! You know, for Lily's potions gig." Remus looked up from his ice cream and nodded in understanding. He would have continued to make remarks, but the taste of the ice cream seemed to be clouding his mind with pleasure. Suddenly he realized that he hadn't had chocolate since before the registration article in the newspaper. How had Sirius' known this? Remus _did_ work right across from Fortescue's—for all Sirius knew, he could have been eating ice cream sundaes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But somehow, Sirius just _knew_ that this was exactly what he needed right now.

He stared at Sirius intently for a while, watching him twirl the spoon around in his dish. For a few moments, all that could be heard was the slurping of ice cream and the bustling of customers leaving the shop. "Hey, I have a question," Sirius said, suddenly looking up at Remus, who was still fixated on him.

"What?"

"Why are you not dragging me out by my ear like you normally do when I bug you at work?" But as soon as the words escaped Sirius' mouth, he wished they hadn't. Remus' "happy chocolate face" disappeared, and the sparkle in his eyes seemed to vanish with it. Sirius grabbed Remus' shoulder. "Moony, what's the matter?"

Remus tensed up under Sirius' touch. "Today I decided I wasn't going to care anymore."

Sirius blinked his eyes a few times and cocked his head to one side. But instead of asking unneeded questions, he waited until his friend was ready to continue. From the painful expression on his face, this looked really important. "I'm not going to put any effort into working here from this day forward. So you can 'Moony pester' all you want—that actually might make this whole thing go by a lot quicker."

Sirius' mouth hung open. What the heck was Remus talking about? For as long as Sirius knew him, the tawny-haired marauder had _never_ stopped putting effort into his work.

Even in a moment of tension such as this one, Remus was still able to read Sirius' mind just by looking at him. His friend's bizarre facial expression calmed Remus down considerably. Still looking somewhat pained, he grabbed Sirius' hand, which was still on his shoulder. He whispered, "You _do_ understand that I could lose my job any day now, don't you? Every day the _Prophet's_ been printing reminders for businesses to check the registry. It's only a matter of time before Mr. Flourish decides its time to check, so there really isn't a point in putting any effort into this anymore. I won't be here for much longer."

So _that_ was why Remus had looked so befuddled and stressed out the past few days. And now he was going to get rid of those feelings by completely ignoring his duties. Suddenly, anger began twisting its way through Sirius' body. He balled his fists and gazed directly into Remus' tired, amber eyes. "Lupin I can't believe you!" he growled.

This visibly startled Remus. "What? I thought you'd enjoy hearing about me taking a bit of slacking off time! You do it _constantly,_ so don't I deserve to relax a bit too?" He backed away defensively.

"Deserving's not the issue here!" Sirius shouted, stomping his foot. "Of course you _deserve _to relax, I've been telling you that since we were eleven years old!"

"Then I don't see the problem!" Remus hollered, making another employee who had just walked into the aisle jump and turn back in the other direction.

Sirius glared at him, trying to put the right words together in his head before blurting them out. But he was so furious that it was difficult to keep control. "There's a difference between slacking off a bit and completely shirking your duties altogether." He stopped to take in a deep breath. "There's also…well…it wouldn't be _you_, do you get what I mean?"

"No."

Sirius took a step toward Remus as his friend tried to take another one back. Sirius had a feeling that both of their wands would be out if their hands hadn't been occupied with ice cream. "I've never seen you stop working hard before. You can't stop being yourself now, Remus. You _can't_. No matter how painful this feels for you, you can't let it change you into someone who doesn't care about anything and gives up so easily! I saw how brave and calm you were going into the Ministry. You knew it had to get done and you did it, despite my stupid comments, despite Alice's horrible crying, despite Umbridge giving you a hard time! You were a real man that day, Remus, and you've proved that to me so many times. The fact that you might lose a job does not mean you can't put effort in it to the very end, especially since you know mostly everyone will lose their jobs by the time this war is through. You're not the only one!"

Now Remus looked angry, which is the exact opposite of what Sirius had hoped for and expected. Maybe he _had_ used the wrong wording. Remus opened his mouth to speak, hissing out every word as though it were poison. "We're talking about people finding out that I'm a fucking _werewolf!_ In case you weren't aware of it, the reason Umbridge told me I wasn't allowed to use heavy curses was because most werewolves have already become full-fledged Death Eaters! When Mr. Flourish sees what I am, he's going to think I'm one of them…so there's just no point—"

Suddenly, Remus tumbled backwards onto the ground; his half-eaten ice cream sundae splattered a few feet away. He reached a hand up to rub his cheek before processing what had actually happened. Looking up at Sirius with a startled expression, he realized that his friend had punched him in the jaw. And this friend looked even more shocked than Remus felt. "Oh my God Remus, I'm so sorry…"

Remus knew Sirius _should_ have said something like _"That's bullshit! You being a werewolf should have nothing to do with this!"_ But the fact that Sirius now looked as though he was going to cry made Remus reconsider being even angrier with him. He stood up and smiled wearily at the long-haired marauder. "Sirius…this is about something else, isn't it?"

Sirius nodded, his petrified eyes growing wider.

"I assume you've realized that this is the first time you've ever stricken me. Would you care to tell me exactly why you've been acting so peculiar lately?" he asked calmly, taking out his wand to clean up the ice cream while keeping his eyes on Sirius, who seemed to have forgotten how to breathe.

"Padfoot, this could go on all day."

At the sound of the word 'Padfoot', Sirius snapped out of his shock. After taking a deep breath, he spoke, in a rather shaky voice, "I've been, umm, feeling the need to uhh, take care of you guys. I don't want this war to change everything. I've…I've never been so close to anyone in my life…" he looked away, his face turning scarlet.

Judging by Sirius' complete ineloquence, this problem must have been eating at the insides of the usually jovial marauder for quite some time. In addition, those odd feelings of love he claimed to have developed could have been created by this same problem. Right now—whether he knew it himself or not—Sirius was afraid of the marauders breaking up. He must have felt as though friendship, sticking to the status quo, and even love were the only things he could strive to keep consistent as the shadow of a war approaches. In other words, Sirius Black was _terrified_ of change. Remus assumed this was the first time Sirius was coming to terms with any of these issues, so he certainly wasn't going to blame the poor man for punching him.

Remus was reminded of how vulnerable he was a few days ago at the Ministry. Sirius had been scared too, but he joked around and made everything seem a little bit brighter for the werewolf. All at once, it struck Remus that there was only one thing that could make Sirius feel better right now. And this time, it wasn't a hug or a stupid joke.

"Padfoot," Remus whispered. Sirius immediately made eye contact with him, his face still beet red. "I never thanked you for being such a wonderful friend the other day. I can't really explain how much it meant to me to have someone to lean on and keep me sane. I probably wouldn't have been able to get past Frank and Alice, let alone Umbridge."

Sirius' shoulders relaxed a little, and a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "Glad my seeing-eye dog services could be of use." Remus grinned broadly upon noticing how quickly Sirius was able to bounce back to life.

"Yes because I can't imagine any actual blind people wanting you. Though I guess they might, since they can't actually see you."

Sirius threw his head back and grabbed his heart again in mock pain. "That hurts right here, Moony! You know as well as I do that blind people can _feel_ my sexiness. They have heightened senses you know."

The other man laughed. "Yes, and so do I. But I'm pretty sure I can't _feel_ other people's sexiness."

Sirius snickered. "Oh now that's a lie—ow! Leggo my ear! It's going to rip off, Moony! There's going to be blood, Moony!"

"I think it's time we visited the children's reading room."

"AUUGHH! But Moony, they closed up shop ten minutes ago!"

Remus looked around and realized that they were indeed the only people left in Flourish & Blotts. "No wonder nobody was hollering at us for having a row. You could have told me, mate."

"Heh, I think that's what that other worker was trying to do a minute ago before we scared him."

After Remus punched out and grabbed his belongings, the two marauders left the shop together. Sirius threw his arm over his friend's shoulder. It was times like these that made Sirius glad that Remus could understand what he was thinking and feeling. He certainly wasn't sure if he himself knew what he wanted, but he was almost _positive_ Remus understood.

MWPP

Before going to their respective flats, Remus and Sirius decided to check in on the Potters and their gardening extravaganza. When they arrived, neither of them was quite sure what had gone on while they were at the bookshop, but they understood one thing: the end result was very comical.

"RAPE! LILY THE VINES ARE RAPING ME! WHY THE FUCK IS THERE DEVIL'S SNARE OUT HERE! OH MERLIN, RAPE!" was the first thing that could be heard coming from the back door as Lily invited the other two in.

"Sounds like everything's going swimmingly," said Remus as he walked briskly past Lily to get to the back door. "Just stop moving, Prongs!" He turned to Sirius and Lily, who were standing behind him looking bemused. "See, this is what happens when you copy someone else's notes on Devil's Snare without actually learning it yourself."

Lily immediately stopped looking bemused. Sirius started shaking his head franticly, his eyes bulging. Remus cocked his head to one side and gave them a confused look. "What?"

Sirius continued to shake his head while making rapid slashing motions across his neck with his hand. Lily's eyes narrowed. "Please continue, Remus."

Of course Remus understood exactly what Sirius meant by his erratic gestures. But as far as he was concerned, he had no obligation to keep James' secret. Especially since it was _Remus_' Herbology notes James had copied for all those years. "Well James wasn't exactly the star pupil in Herbology was he? He only took the NEWT because he wanted to become Head Boy."

"…So he used _your_ notes and homework?" Lily was livid, her wild red hair beginning to look like flames engulfing her face. Remus nodded, trying desperately to hide his amusement.

Sirius piped up just as Lily was rolling up her sleeves. "Oh come on, Lils! Everyone copied off _everyone's_ homework back at Hogwarts! I used to copy Remus' stuff even _before_ the NEWT level!" Remus shook his head at Sirius' statement, which all three of them knew wasn't really helping the situation.

"Well I expect that from **you**!" Lily growled.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Before a fight could break out between the two angriest people to ever graduate Hogwarts, Remus cast an inaudible silencing charm on them and stepped out into the backyard. He really was getting very good at performing silent magic to control his friends. He hoped the Ministry didn't consider this type of magic to be dangerous. As Lily and Sirius began grabbing at their throats in confusion, James wailed in anguish as the Devil's Snare appeared to have taken a liking to his pants. Remus swiftly whipped out his wand and began shooting blue flames in the direction of his friend. The Devil's Snare immediately subsided, but James' pants were now covered in the bright blue flames and his glasses were knocked askew.

"Merlin, Prongs! Can't you even remember to bring your wand with you when you're gardening? You should consider this part of Mad-Eye's constant vigilance training!" A stream of water came out the end of Remus' wand, extinguishing the fire on James' trousers. He then moved on to dampen the soil in the garden. Garden may have been the wrong word to use when referring to the wasteland surrounding him in the Potters' backyard. Patches of sun burnt crabgrass and shriveled up vegetable stalks were the only real signs of life, other than the aggressive weeds that were currently disintegrating. They say that if a weed as rare as Devil's Snare spreads in a garden, it's a pretty clear sign that there's something terribly wrong with the land. Remus continued to scorch the Devil's Snare and soak the soil at the same time, which was not an easy feat, considering it required manipulating flames and water simultaneously. Eventually, the scandalized James and the silent Lily and Sirius stood beside him to watch.

"_Finite Incantatem."_ Remus muttered once he had finished destroying the offending plant, his wand pointed at Lily and Sirius. "I'm sorry I had to do that to you, Lily."

"That's quite alright, considering you just saved my backyard," she smiled sweetly at him. "Oh, and my good-for-nothing cheater of a husband too."

"Cheating!? Lily I would never cheat on you with another woman!" Ironically, James looked like a deer in headlights.

Lily screeched with laughter and patted her husband's shoulder to calm him down. "I was talking about copying homework at school, but that's always nice to know, dear." Remus and Lily laughed and James' face turned bright red.

Remus noticed Sirius' lack of bark-like laughter and glanced over at him. "What, Sirius? Are you mad that I didn't keep quiet about something I didn't know was a secret?" Remus gave him a fake pout. But instead of receiving what Remus thought would be an inevitable argument about marauder confidentiality, Sirius' face turned as red as James' and he lowered his gaze. Remus furrowed his eyebrows. Was Sirius Black _embarrassed_ about something? Unfortunately for Sirius, his werewolf friend was in the mood to voice his opinions today.

"Padfoot what on earth are you being shy for?"

Suddenly all three of them were staring directly at Sirius, the conversation about James' cheating forgotten. Sirius shook his head and kept his eyes averted. "Why is Lily the only one who gets an apology for the silencing charm?" he said quietly. At that point, Remus noticed the hint of jealousy in the way Sirius avoided eye contact. James and Lily shot each other stunned and confused looks. James was about to say _"What the hell's wrong with you, mate?",_ but he heard Remus sigh and decided it was better to let him handle Sirius' odd behavior.

"You deserved it. Payback for this lovely sore jaw of mine," he said calmly, rubbing his face.

James interjected immediately. "You _punched _Remus?" he looked more shocked than angry.

Before Sirius could defend himself, Remus butt in, "Don't look so surprised. It isn't as if nobody's allowed to get physically violent with me. You and I have had loads of fistfights and Sirius can't get through a day without pulverizing something."

"Yes but I've never seen _Sirius_ get violent with _you_. I would have loved to see it!" James said. Lily frowned and shook her head.

Sirius looked up at James, face red and eyes dark. "Well, we could do a little reenactment. I'll be me and you be Remus."

"Ooh, kinky," James replied.

"What?" said Remus and Sirius at the same time, moving away from the bespectacled marauder.

"Or better yet," Lily said, catching on, "James can be Remus and _I'll_ be Sirius." She wrapped her arms around her husband's waist. They both laughed as the other two marauders continued to back away.

"Oooh! Can I be James?" They all turned around to see the arrival of the chubbiest marauder, grinning up at them in that clueless sort of way that always got him out of detention with McGonagall. Peter's interjection caused an uproar of laughter from James, Lily, Remus, and Sirius. Even if the situation hadn't really been funny to begin with, it was sort of a cleansing feeling for each of them to have a good laugh. These tiny group misunderstandings were nowhere near the level of drama they knew they would have to encounter as the year progressed, but laughter was something they knew they could use to relieve some of it.

"So anyway," said Lily as the laughter died down and Sirius began rubbing Peter's head with his fist, "Remus, that was quite a performance out there. You would make an excellent gardener."

"Professor Sprout used to tell me that. But really I'm better at Herbology in theory, not practically."

"I don't know, what you did a minute ago wasn't exactly Herbology in _theory._"

MWPP

Not entirely unexpectedly, an owl visited Remus' flat a few days later, bringing a notice of termination from his job at Flourish & Blotts. The others thought Remus took this news rather well, and he explained to them that this was because he'd been worried about having to deal with actual confrontation between himself and Mr. Flourish on the topic of werewolves. But it seemed Mr. Flourish was a decent enough person, given the circumstances, to go about the termination quietly. He even went as far as to let Remus have his final paycheck.

After being laid off, Remus understandably seemed a little more down in the dumps than usual. He could feel his moods slipping, although that could have partially been due to the full moon being four days away. A minute didn't go by when Remus wasn't worried about how much longer he could afford the rent on his flat. Of course, he wasn't going to tell his friends about the money issues he would inevitably be facing. They had enough on their plates with their jobs and work for the Order.

By late afternoon on Thursday, Remus opened his refrigerator and found nothing inside but a six-pack of beer Sirius had brought over for himself a few weeks ago. He stared at the beverages until most of the cold air had escaped from the fridge. While pondering whether it would be safe to drink Sirius' alcohol, Remus realized that there was no denying it would be reasonable given the circumstances. He was about to reach for a can when he heard an odd scratching sound coming from the apartment door. Remus opened said door to find Padfoot lying down on the welcome mat, wagging his tail and nudging a colossal chocolate sundae with his nose.

Remus never had the chance to reconsider that beer, but he did spend an enjoyable evening eating ice cream and watching Padfoot dance on hind legs to his _A Hard Day's Night_ album. During one particular song, Remus stood up and grabbed Padfoot's front paws in order to dance with him. Even as a dog, Sirius still showed his adoration for his favorite song: "Can't Buy Me Love". Remus silently concluded that Sirius loved the song because he had been trapped in a rich, pureblood family while he was growing up.

As the music continued on to the next song, Remus suddenly wasn't slipping anymore. By eight o'clock that night, Remus was in such unusually high spirits that when Lily Floo'd with a question about her garden, he asked her out to dinner for the following evening.

"That sounds lovely, Remus. Is it alright if I take some of James' money to pay for it?"

Remus noticed the worry lines appearing on Lily's forehead and decided against arguing. "Okay."

Lily was surprised at how easy it had been to get Remus to concede. He was smiling and tapping his foot to the music that was still playing in the background. "Are you feeling okay, Remus?" she gave him a stern look. "You're not taking any potions you shouldn't be, are you?"

"What? No!" he cried, causing the sleeping Padfoot to snort and jerk awake from his position on the couch behind Remus.

As soon as Lily noticed Sirius, a wide smile graced her features. "Okay I believe you." Remus turned his head to one side and looked at her skeptically, but refrained from commenting. Lily's head spun around and disappeared just before Padfoot was about to swipe at the green flames with his paw.

"Padfoot, shouldn't you be going home? You don't have any dates with firehouse Dalmatians or junkyard bulldogs tonight?" Remus asked, scratching him behind the ears. Usually a comment like that elicited a growl from the dog Animagus. But instead of bearing his teeth, Padfoot's pink tongue began lapping at Remus' lightly scarred hand. Remus chuckled, leaned back and closed his eyes. "Okay, stay as long as you like. You know, you've really been very unpredictable lately. I was afraid to ask you this in the bookshop the other day, but now that you can't really respond I might as well voice it." The dog stopped licking and looked up at Remus, whose eyes were still closed. "Thing is, I'm still under the assumption that part of your unstable emotions has to do with your supposed infatuation with Diggory."

The only thing that could be heard in the room for a while was the Beatles music. Remus assumed that Padfoot's doggie mind was having difficulty processing an answer to his statement, so it startled him completely out of his half-slumber when he heard a man's voice next to him.

"I made that stuff up, Moony. I really don't know if I'm in love…and I think I might start trying to date again tomorrow."

Remus hadn't really expected any response, let alone that one. "I assume it won't be with Diggory?"

Sirius laughed. "No, and I'm pretty sure Amos Diggory's girlfriend had a baby last year."

"Really? And they're not married yet?" Sirius shook his head. "Wow. I guess the last thing he needs right now is Sirius Black lusting after him."

"Oh now come on Moony. Don't you think _everyone_ needs Sirius Black lusting after them?"

"Oh yes, I agree. I'm sure Snape would be thrilled to have you in his pants."

"I'm never bringing you ice cream again."

MWPP

"James, are you still going to be at the Ministry tonight?" Lily asked as she stepped into the bathroom to grab a hairbrush. She could hardly suppress a grin as she noticed what a terrible job her husband was doing with a magical razor. "Honey, I could just brew the potion to keep you from growing hair on your face. Wouldn't that make things easier?"

James grunted and spit out some shaving cream as the razor levitated a centimeter from his lip. "Yeah but then the hair on top of my head doesn't grow. And I know how much you like my shaggy look." He winked and she snorted. "And yes, I have to work until midnight. I only have to do this once a month for Dumbledore Lils, I promise." He reached over and ran his thumb down her hip.

Lily smiled and nodded her head, remembering the conversation they'd had with Dumbledore about secretly copying Ministry files for use in the Order. "Of course, of course. Remus is going to take me to dinner tonight then."

"Leaky Cauldron?"

"Probably. Though last week I told him about how much I missed Muggle cuisine, so he may take me to that diner over by Sirius' flat."

"Alright. Well, Floo me if anything exciting happens. I'll just be at my desk until 10."

Lily giggled. "You mean I should Floo you if Remus gets drunk? Don't count on it." James smiled as he watched his wife depart from the bathroom.

MWPP

"Thank you for taking me out, Remus. I haven't had a break from cooking a meal in a long time." Lily told him as they slid into the booth the waitress had directed them to.

"Oh you're welcome, Lily," Remus said with a smile.

"You know, I think the last time the two of us ate together without those buffoons must have been…"

"Fifth year, Hogsmeade," he completed her thought. He glanced awkwardly at the menu, hiding his face a little behind it. He heard Lily's sigh and knew she had remembered. "Sorry to bring it up," he whispered.

When he looked back at her, he was surprised to see her smiling brightly. "That's okay, Remus. I'm completely over that part of my life now. James is more important to me than him, and I'll always love you as my best friend."

Remus grinned and flipped the page in his menu. "Well, one nice thing about being unemployed is that now I can enjoy…" he squinted at the menu and tired to find the oddest item, "chunky beef taco salads, with my friends on an evening when I'd usually be working."

"Yeah, I forgot that this was an American-style Muggle restaurant. I might just get a hamburger."

The two of them chatted peacefully for a while, and then took a break from talking in order to enjoy their meals. Lily couldn't help but grin as she watched Remus devour an entire steak in five minutes, something that had always astounded her at Hogwarts before she knew of his secret. "You're in a very good mood, Remus," Lily stated when the two of them had finished most of their food.

Remus gave her an embarrassed grin. "I know what you're thinking. I've lost my job, I can't do powerful magic in a time of war, and the entire community will know of my lycanthropy sooner or later. Wait, why _am_ I in a good mood?" he said, still smiling. Lily shook her head and shrugged. "But Sirius has really been helping me get through everything. I suppose you could say he literally knocked some sense into me the other day."

Lily was about to ask what Sirius had been doing at Remus' house the previous night, but she suddenly noticed something peculiar taking place in the corner of the restaurant. Something peculiar with black hair, a bark-like laugh, and overly flamboyant hand-gestures. "Speak of the devil…"

"What?" Remus turned around in his seat and noticed Sirius right away. "What in the name of Merlin is he…" they both paused to try and hear what their friend was saying to the man opposite him at the table. Given Sirius' perpetually loud voice, it wasn't very difficult to eavesdrop.

"Show me your snitch and I'll show you my wand..." (1)

Remus turned back around to look at Lily and burst into a fit of giggles. "Did he s-seriously just say that in a Muggle restaurant?" Remus said while trying to catch his breath. Lily, however, looked appalled.

"Remus, look again. It looks like he's going to eat that man's face!"

The werewolf didn't bother to turn around again. The other people in the restaurant had become silent upon noticing Sirius' antics, so Remus could clearly hear the noises associated with Lily's description. "I'll take your word for it."

Lily looked extremely pained. She hadn't really expected Remus to seem so…unconcerned. "Anyway," she said, trying to ignore Sirius, "that advice you gave me yesterday on growing hellebore was very useful. I need it to make the Draught of Peace but I haven't gotten around to buying the moonstone yet…OH FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE, THIS ISN'T A GAY BAR!" This time, Remus turned around just in time for a spectacular performance.

Sirius had somehow maneuvered his way to the other side of the table and was currently sitting directly on top of his date. It was obvious that the two of them were getting into some sort of mood. Sirius then went to the trouble of slowly tying his hair back into a ponytail—something he did almost every time he was trying to seduce someone. Remus snorted and looked around to see if the restaurant workers had noticed yet.

"How can you be taking this so lightly? Your best friend is in a _Muggle diner_ acting like a sex-deprived sleazeball!" Lily roared. She couldn't tell what was more shocking: Sirius having sex with clothes on in a restaurant, or Remus' lack of concern that Sirius was having sex with clothes on in a restaurant. After what she had witnessed through the fire, Lily assumed Remus and Sirius had spent the previous evening in some degree of intimacy. Apparently she'd been very wrong.

"Look, Lily. Sirius _is_ a sex-deprived sleazeball. He hasn't been on a date since the day he lied to us about being in love with Diggory."

"You call that a _date?_" she said, pointing at Sirius as though he were the most abhorrent thing she'd ever laid eyes on. Not that she didn't regularly regard him as such.

Remus sighed and shook his head. "What were you saying about moonstone?"

"I was saying…oh screw it I'm in a bad mood. Remus I want to hire you to take care of that pile of muck in my backyard."

His eyes widened. "So you want me to be your gardener?"

She laughed. "Yes, that too."

The tawny-haired man was quiet for a few moments. "Did you discuss it with James?"

"Well, he's sort of the one who suggested it during our row a few days ago…you know, over the whole cheating thing?" Remus nodded. "He said something along the lines of 'if you're gonna be Flooing Moony every five seconds about that field of rubbish, why not just marry **him!**'"

"Ummm…" Remus hesitated.

"Well, you get the gist of it anyway. It would be wonderful if you could live with us. We've got an extra room and James had _loads_ of money from his inheritance. So what do you say? Wait, don't say anything yet. I want you to know that this is NOT, under any circumstance, offered out of pity. I would—"

"You would have asked me whether or not I was unemployed. I get it, and my answer is yes on one condition."

"What?"

"You let me do the cooking and cleaning too."

"Oh _Remus!_" Lily cried, flinging herself across the table and throwing her arms around her friend.

At that very moment, their waitress arrived with the check. "Oh Lord, are we serving aphrodisiacs or something?"

Lily and Remus made sure to exit the diner without being noticed by Sirius and what they could only assume will be his flavor of the week. Just before they Apparated back to their respective homes, Lily refrained from commenting as Remus nonchalantly approached a motorbike that was parked in front of the diner and flipped up its kickstand.

* * *

Please review my story, no matter what you thought of it! I really enjoy reading your comments. It helps me become inspired to write. Even if you didn't like my chapter, it would still be great to hear from you, as I need all the constructive criticism I can get, as I'm not exactly a veteran fanfic author.

(1) Line taken from atforumz


	4. With A Little Help From My Friends

**Disclaimer:** F.A.N.F.I.C. stands for DO NOT OWN.

**Summary:** see previous chapters

**Author's Note:** A/N: To clarify, this story is eventually going to be slash, I promise. Cross my scars and hope to fly (that's an old line from Rugrats, dunno why it just came to me suddenly). I expect it to be a fairly long fic, so the slash may take a while. I promise I'm going to try my best to keep updating sooner. I'm a slow writer so please bear with me as I try to make this come out of my head in the best way possibly. Warm fuzzies to my reviewers this time around! **ProtegoNox, LouisaB, RL4SBnotNT, Wuff, Miss-Janine, MoonyIsTheMan, justification to wormtail, rekahneko, Xylia Luna Orion, muddledmind, **and** Mizuki hikari** ! I LOVE YOU ALL TO PIECES!! anyway, the most exciting part about writing this story is waiting until I finish a chapter to find the Beatles song that fits for the title. The Beatles rock my lonely world.

**The Gardener of Godric's Hollow** By: Risu-chan

Chapter Four: With A Little Help From My Friends

There was no doubt about it; Remus and Sirius had been uncharacteristically strange. But James hadn't quite reached the point where he was going to start magically interrogating his friends with Veritaserum. He figured it was best to wait until they started bouncing off the walls and foaming at the mouth. Although he did almost expect to see flying Nifflers after hearing Lily's news the night he worked late at the Ministry. Lily had Floo'd him at around ten o'clock when she arrived home, but when he asked her if the food at the Muggle diner had been good, the only sentence that could escape her mouth was _"Remus is going to live with us!"_

Moony was going to live at Godric's Hollow? Was she serious? Was _Moony_ serious? After being asked only once, how could someone as infamously stubborn as Remus Lupin agree to live entirely off his friends? James was shocked, baffled, stunned, confused, and irritated. Not irritated that he and Lily hadn't had the chance to talk something like this over, not irritated that he would have another man living in his house after he'd finally achieved his dream of sharing a sweet little cottage with the woman he loved. No, James cared deeply for his fellow Marauders, and would never give up the chance to help a friend in need. What _was_ irritating was the extreme stress moving all of these damn boxes was putting on his back.

"Lupin, you _fucking_ bastard."

"No, Prongs, I am not having sex with anything in the vicinity…and my parents are very much alive and married."

Lily snorted and stood up from the couch to wrap her arms around James. He looked into her green eyes, bright with laughter, and began to calm down. "Why did we agree on today of all days to move his shit around?"

She put a finger to James' lips and shook her head. "Such language! Do you kiss your beautiful red-headed wife with that mouth?"

"I just don't see how we ended up agreeing to help him move on a day when _I_ have to do all the work! Moony can't you at least carry some of your pillows?"

This type of comment would have made any person other than Remus angry. It wasn't _his_ fault the previous night had been a full moon, and it certainly wasn't his fault James had discontinued looking at the lunar calendar. But seeing James getting pissed off that Remus couldn't move boxes the day after his transformation made him realize just how much his friends didn't pity him…and he loved it. Every joke they made about his lycanthropy made it that much easier to cope with, knowing that his friends didn't find it a touchy subject. Remus smiled at his bespectacled friend, who had wiggled his way out of Lily's grip and was currently trying to carry a box of kitchenware and five pillows into the fireplace all at once.

Remus stood up. "I suppose I could carry my tissue box," he said with a smirk, reaching for said item. But before James could explode, he grabbed a few pillows from James' load."

"Thank you. At least now you can be considered more useful than Padfoot and Wormtail."

The two men stepped through the fireplace using Maude's Magnificent Moving-Day Floo Powder. Lily, who was carrying a potted plant, closely followed them. Remus bent over and gingerly set the pillows down on his new bed in the guest room, and winced as he tried to stand straight again. Last night had actually been a pretty mild moon. James had been too busy organizing more files for Dumbledore to join him, but Sirius and Peter had faithfully arrived just before the transformation to make sure he'd fully made the journey from his apartment to the Shrieking Shack.

"Where are Padfoot and Wormtail anyway? They told me this morning that they would come to help out." James and Lily shrugged their shoulders at this, and Remus scowled.

"It doesn't matter now. I mean, we're almost done here," said James as he and Lily picked up Remus turntable and moved it across the sitting room. "Oh by the way Moony, Lily's been afraid to ask you if it's alright for us to share your record player," he added.

Remus grinned as he noticed a blush forming on Lily's cheeks. "Anything for a fellow muggle music lover," he said in a deep voice. Her blush grew.

James sighed. "Okay that right there has to stop."

"What?" Remus asked, grinning even more mischievously and snaking his arm around Lily's waist. She looked mildly confused.

"_That_. I can't have you living in my house if you're going to be constantly seducing my wife."

Lily and Remus both laughed as the werewolf pulled Lily closer and said, "Oh please, James. You know I can hardly seduce the gender I'm actually attracted to!"

At that, the front door flew open and their two previously missing-in-action friends bounded in. "What's this I hear about Remus seducing someone?" Sirius' voice echoed though the house. When he caught sight of his tawny-haired friend with his arms wrapped tightly around Lily, he frowned slightly. "You seem oddly affectionate for someone who's recovering from a full moon. Not switching teams on me are you Moony?"

"I should hope not!" shouted James. Remus laughed even harder and had to release Lily in order to keep his composure. He did seem to have more energy than he usually did directly following the moon. He decided this was due to the excitement of moving in with two of his best friends.

"In about ten seconds, today went from "moving day" to "question Remus' sexuality" day!" He walked up to Sirius and wrapped his arms around the man in the same fashion he had just done with Lily. "Though I'm flattered that you two are so keen on me continuing to prefer men."

Sirius stared at Remus for a moment, frozen on the spot. Then suddenly he shook his head and moved away from his friend. "Anyway Moony, Pete and I have been out getting you housewarming gifts!" Remus' eyes lit up at the thought of this, though he tried to hide it by shooting Sirius and Peter a disapproving frown.

James, however, looked furious. "So you've been out buying him _presents_ while leaving me to do all the hard work! I almost _died_ trying to fit his dresser through the fireplace!"

Sirius seemed unperturbed by this statement. "Well you weren't there last night, so it pretty much evens out."

"WHAT!?" James balled his fists.

Lily finally spoke up, her arm resting on her husband's shoulder, "He does have a point, dear," she then turned to Peter, who until now had been cowering behind Sirius to avoid the shouting match. "Peter, what did you boys buy for Remus? I hope it isn't anything disgusting, because we've already agreed that I'm not going to display any of Remus' grindylow taxidermies."

"We didn't get him anything gross, I promise!" Peter cried. He had never been very good at answering Lily when she spoke to him. "We got him a chocolate fountain!"

"Really!" exclaimed Remus, Lily, and James all at once.

"Oh way to go you _rat_!" Sirius directed his attention to Peter. "It was supposed to be a surprise! Why do you think we went through all that trouble to shrink the packaging?"

Peter turned scarlet and shied away. "Sorry Pads. Hey listen guys…I have to get going. I'll see you all at the Order meeting tomorrow." And before any of them could bid him farewell, Peter had Disapparated.

"Well that was strange," Remus pointed out.

Sirius handed Remus the package they had brought him and watched his friend carefully tear off the brown wrapping paper. "Pete's been acting strange ever since graduation. Probably needs his head examined. Too many potions accidents if you ask me."

Remus raised an eyebrow and stopped unwrapping the gift. "Sirius, if I recall correctly, _you're_ the one who's been acting strange. And you didn't actually answer my question the other day in the bookshop. First you claim you're in love with Amos Diggory, then you claim you have no idea _who_ you're in love with, then you tell me you want to _protect_ us, then you go and snog some random bloke in a public restaurant. Do you have any idea how hard it is to understand you when you refuse to tell us what the hell's been going on in that swollen head of yours?" Remus knew this topic was probably paining Sirius as much as it showed on the poor man's face. In all fairness, the moment Sirius had punched him, the werewolf had pretty much figured out exactly what Sirius' unspoken problem had been. But Remus needed to know that _Sirius_ had figured it out. He wanted Sirius to finally put his feelings into his own words and express them, otherwise his friends had no way of helping except to watch his personality continue to spiral out of control.

"Um Remus, can we not have this conversation right now?" Sirius looked highly uncomfortable as he noticed this topic had gained the Potters' full, undivided, and slightly creepy attention.

"I'm sorry Padfoot, but it looks like you're going to have to tell us what's going on. Otherwise we're going to make the assumption that that guy you had your tongue attached to was the man you're in love with," Remus' eyes were bearing down into Sirius', suddenly making it difficult for the Animagus to breathe.

Sirius let out a sigh, plopped down on the couch in the sitting room, and closed his eyes. He hadn't quite worked everything out himself, but he supposed it was finally time to come clean. He just wished Lily didn't have to be here for this one. She always complicated their conversations about romance, applying her womanly logic to everything. Sirius chose to focus on Remus when he finally reopened his eyes. "I'm not in love with that guy, don't worry." Remus nodded, inquiring for him to continue. "But I almost _wish_ I was."

"What?" exclaimed James and Lily together. Remus cocked his head to one side and waited for some sort of explanation.

Sirius ran his fingers through his long hair and shook his head. "No guys, it's not what you think. I don't want to be in love with _him_. I just want to be in love with _someone._"

This statement was news to Remus. He had hoped Sirius was finally going to admit to his fear of change and need for the marauders to stick together, not admit that he wanted an actual relationship. He assumed that Sirius noticed the shocked look on his face, because the Animagus shook his head again and continued to speak. "I…I just want to have something consistent in my life, guys. Something that'll last through this war. Something even closer than what the marauders have. You know umm…like what you two have." He awkwardly pointed to James and Lily, who both smiled at him in a loss for words. Remus, though still quite shocked and confused, nodded and smiled warmly. Sirius immediately began to feel more relaxed about divulging his inner feelings to his friends. "In the beginning, when I told you guys I was in love, well that was just wishful thinking on my part. I'm getting bloody tired of one night stands…and not being able to look forward to a second date."

"So you don't just want love…you want a _committed relationship?_" James uttered the words that both Remus and Lily were thinking. "Pads, please tell me you didn't just imply—"

"…yeah. That's exactly what I mean."

Remus knew his mouth was hanging open, but he seemed to be having trouble closing it at the moment. Lily, for the first time in history, was stunned into silence during a conversation involving romance. James, however, was still interested in hearing more. He sat up in his chair and leaned closer to Sirius. "Er, so let me get this straight. You decided to snog a bloke in a muggle restaurant in order to…win his undying love?"

Sirius cringed. That hadn't really been the reason. But since he'd come this far in expressing his feelings, he might as well spill everything. He grinned and began scratching his head absentmindedly. "Actually that date was to see if I could forget about all this shit…to see if I could revert back to the sex god I used to be before this war shook me up."

"Did it work?" James seemed to be the only person still able to carry on a conversation with Sirius. Lily's eyebrows were furrowed, and Remus looked as though he was asking for birds to nest in his mouth.

Sirius grinned and James already regretted what he'd just asked. "Oh _it_ worked alright. Although it did take a little while to get in the mood. Someone knocked Diana's (1) kickstand and there was fucking mud all over his part of the seat. I didn't know it until after he'd already sat in it, so I had to take 'im back to my place to wash up. And when I say 'wash up' I mean—"

"Oh for Merlin's sake, Sirius, that's _not_ what James was asking!" Remus had finally snapped out of his temporary stupor.

The black-haired marauder smiled evilly and moved closer to Remus on the couch. "Oh you _know_ you wanna hear every detail about the spectacular performance I gave that bloke."

Remus' eyed narrowed. "Why does every serious conversation we have always go downhill with sexual innuendo? Is this your way of avoiding the real issues?" The other man stopped leaning closer to Remus after hearing these words.

"That hurts right here, Moony." Sirius dramatically clutched his heart. "Why do you continue to stab me right in the heart when I know you secretly _love_ my body!"

The werewolf sighed and put his head in his hands. "Case and point."

"Don't worry about it Remus. It's obvious that Sirius didn't actually have sex with that man the other day." Lily pointed out in a matter-of-fact tone.

With his face still buried in his hands, Remus began to shake with laughter. "I'm not worried. I'd already guessed that, considering he ended up crashed on my sofa an hour after we left the diner!" he mumbled between chuckles.

James snorted. "Oho! So the great sex god chooses Remus Lupin over a shag with a random bloke!"

The said "sex god's" face flushed crimson as he turned his head away from his friends. "You know I always go to one of you guys after a bad date."

Remus lifted his head out of his hands and looked at Sirius incredulously. "Shouting cheap pick-up lines, shoving your tongue down his throat in the middle of a family restaurant, riding on a muddy motorbike…gee, I don't know _how_ you could consider that a bad date, but I'll take your word for it." James and Lily looked mildly surprised at Remus' choice of words, though it wasn't uncommon for him to act irritable and sarcastic after a moon.

"Shut it, Remus!" cried Sirius, who seemed less impressed. He glanced nervously over at James. "Prongs, can I have a cuppa?" James nodded and wordlessly stood up to brew everyone some well-needed tea.

Lily watched as Remus and Sirius stared at the carpet for a minute, neither one bothering to continue the previous conversation. She almost talked herself into following her husband into the kitchen, but decided against it once she noticed the black-haired marauder finally lift his head.

When Sirius spoke, his voice sounded slower and raspier than usual. "Moony, I'm in deep trouble."

"Obviously."

"You're not really helping, you know."

"Well how the devil am I supposed to help you if you can't really tell me what the problem is without making one of your stupid jok—

"I don't want to be alone, Remus." Remus barely picked up what Sirius had said, even with his werewolf senses. From the utterly confused look Lily was shooting him, she obviously hadn't heard it at all. Remus took a deep breath and then slung his arm around Sirius, urging him to lean his head on the shorter man's shoulder. After a few seconds, Lily felt as though she were intruding, and slowly slipped out of the room.

Once she was gone, Remus spoke softly to his friend. "I don't really know what to say to you when you're like this, you know. If I say I'll help you, will you stop acting so sporadic?"

"How can you possibly help me with something like this? This isn't anything like werewolf registry. You can't be there for me on these train wrecks disguised as dates, like I was there for you at the Ministry." Remus could feel Sirius' words as he spoke them into his shoulder.

Remus was pensive for a moment. Sirius sat perfectly still, but his breathing was somehow much more rapid than usual. The warmth that usually emanated from his body was absent, but Remus tried his best not to shiver. Remus was the only person who could do anything to help Sirius now, and both of them knew that. James had always been the one to lecture Sirius about how idiotic his promiscuity was, but Remus was the one who'd put together the broken pieces when something got really bad in Sirius' life.

The summer between fifth and sixth year, which Remus suddenly realized was exactly three years ago, Sirius had run away from home. He blindly Apparated to James' house in the pouring rain, despite having no prior training in the art of teleportation. Remus remembered all too well the exact moment James has appeared in his fire that night.

"_Moony? ARE YOU HOME?!" James' voice echoed through the house. Remus heard him call a few more times, and decided to finally get out of bed to see what the commotion was about._

"_What the hell did you wake me up for, Prongs?" he knelt down on the hearthrug to get a better look at the bespectacled boy's flame-covered face. "You're lucky my parents aren't home." Suddenly, Remus was highly aware of the fact that he was only wearing boxers—just one of the little freedoms that went along with having parents who traveled frequently. He quickly dashed to the couch to grab a blanket, but when he returned, James was not chuckling like he should have been upon witnessing Remus' flustered state._

"_Remus, Sirius is in trouble."_

"_What?" The blanket he'd wrapped around his shoulders fell lightly to the ground. Remus' throat constricted in panic. "What did you two do this time?" _Please let this be some sort of prank, _he thought. But in the back of his mind, he knew this wasn't at all like a prank._

"_His parents are gonna be after him. He ran away from them…just now." Remus' heart skipped a beat at James' tone of voice. For someone who had been shouting his head off mere seconds ago, James' speech was oddly quiet._

"_Where is he?"_

"_He's with me. He's been trying to explain what happened, but it's coming out in bits and pieces. And now…he's like, crying or something."_

_Remus' eyes bulged. "He's _what?_ Okay, stand back. I'll Floo to your place."_

_When Remus arrived at James' parent's house, Sirius was wrapped in a blanket and sitting in a fetal position on the carpet in James' bedroom. From afar, he didn't look any different than he had when Gryffindor lost a Quidditch match. But as Remus moved closer, and the distraught Marauder finally looked up at him, the reality of Sirius' situation hit him hard. The boy's long, black hair was matted from the rain and stuck to odd places on his face. His eyes didn't look wet, but the werewolf noticed that they were extremely bloodshot._

"_Moony…I told James not to worry you."_

_Remus wisely decided this wasn't the time to get angry at the way Sirius said things. He knelt down on the carpet next to James. "Well I'm here now, so please tell us what's going on." Sirius stared blankly at his feet for a few minutes, and his breathing was labored when he finally spoke._

"_Today…they wanted me and Regulus to do a Death Eater recruitment test…" Sirius was visibly shaking from head to foot. James looked stunned, but he leaned forward to grasp his best friend's shoulders. Sirius lifted his head, but instead of catching James' eyes, Sirius' gaze fell on Remus' golden orbs. He calmed significantly and continued talking in a low whisper. "My entire home life's revolved around being pureblood, being a Black. Every time I go back there, I can't escape it. What I just did was wrong. I betrayed one of the most powerful families in the wizarding world, MY family…the family that taught me everything about society, expecting me to succeed them…H-how can I possibly live with what I've just done? I don't…" his voice lowered to below a whisper, "I don't know how to live without them but damnit I would give anything to be able to." The tears that all three of them knew hadn't really stopped, began to trickle down Sirius face again. Remus and James looked at each other for a brief second. It was clear to them now that the Black family had brainwashed their children into thinking that being a blood traitor was the deadliest of sins. "…how can I…how do I…"_

"_It's okay, Padfoot. I'll teach you." Remus pulled Sirius into an awkward embrace. James and Sirius were equally shocked at this sudden display of affection, as Remus had _never _hugged any of them. In fact, he'd never even _touched_ any of his friends willingly before._

"_Moony," Sirius whispered after a long pause, though his voice didn't sound quite as grave as it had moments ago._

"_I'm here, Pads. What's up?"_

"_I'm certainly not going to protest…but why are you hugging me without your clothes on?"_

"…_Shit." _

Remus smiled slightly as he remembered how it felt to hug one of his friends for the first time. Now, three years later, he embraced Sirius and Lily quite frequently, although he had to admit that he'd become slightly more flamboyant these past couple years. He glanced over at his friend, who was still silently leaning on his shoulder. This problem was almost comical compared to the one Remus had just relived in his head. They weren't really all that similar. And yet…

"Of course I can help you."

Sirius sat up and stared at Remus as though Pygmy Puffs had started sprouting from his friend's ears. "What are you gonna do, follow me around as I pick up guys at the club?"

The other man shook his head in disbelief. "Are you daft? That's exactly the type of idiocy I'm going to teach you to stay away from!"

"You're going to _teach me?_" Sirius was suddenly very interested.

"Yes. I will teach you how to date someone."

"I _know_ how to go on dates, stupid. I'm been on _thousands_."

Remus shook his head and grinned. "But you've never fallen in love on as single one of them, have you?"

The other man shifted in his seat. "What's your point?"

"My point is that it's painfully obvious that you've never truly dated anyone with the intent of forming a long-lasting, romantic relationship. All you've ever done is snog and get quick, easy sex."

"I like easy sex. It's hot."

"Well, er, yes. I'm sure it's smashing. But when you fall in love with someone, the euphoria of sex lasts a thousand times longer than a quick shag at the club."

Sirius blushed as he heard Remus say this. It wasn't often Remus willingly spoke with him about sex. That was generally a job for James, although Sirius was starting to get slightly repulsed by the constant mentioning of Lily's privates. It made speaking with her quite difficult on many occasions. "How do you know that? You're talking like you know this shit first hand."

Remus cleared his throat. "First of all, DO NOT refer to romantic relationships as 'shit'. Secondly, I can assure you I've never been in love. I just happen to be the only person who will listen to Lily when she babbles on about her love life."

A female voice rang out from the kitchen. "That was the first bit of your conversation I properly heard, Remus John Lupin!"

The werewolf grinned. "I love you too, sweetie!" he cried.

"FUCK YOU LUPIN! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" boomed a more masculine voice. Remus and Sirius looked at each other and burst out laughing.

After they'd enjoyed a good, tension-breaking laugh, Sirius began questioning Remus' new plan. "So what exactly are we going to do? You're not going to make me read textbooks, are you?"

"What? Oh come on, books aren't _always_ the answer."

"Woah, can I get you to say that again into Lily's tape-quarter?"

"Only if you can tell me what a tape recorder actually does."

"Damn you."

"I seem to be getting cussed at quite frequently today. Anyway, Padfoot…I think it would be helpful for you if we had practical lessons." He had stated it plainly and matter-of-factly…and Sirius was shocked out of his mind.

"M-Moony…are you saying that you want to go out with me? Because that's…exactly what it sounded like."

The other man's face turned gloriously scarlet. "N-no! We're not going to actually _do_ anything during the lessons! We're just going to simulate actual situations in a budding relationship!"

How could a practical lesson on dating where they 'simulate actual situations in a budding relationship' _not_ mean the two of them getting intimate with one another? Sirius voiced these concerns.

Remus let out a heavy sigh. "You're right, my plan makes no sense. But it's ultimately your choice. You can take it or leave it."

How could he possibly go out on anything even remotely resembling a date with _Remus_? Remus was the one openly gay person that Sirius swore he would never make a move on. Of course, the two of them talking about romance while eating at a dimly lit restaurant (which is what he assumed these lessons were going to consist of), didn't really sound like he would be breaking the 'don't make passes at Remus' rule. It sounded more like…boring Remus lectures in a public place. Sirius pondered the idea for such a long time, he was surprised James and Lily hadn't emerged from the kitchen out of boredom. In fact…"Prongs, where the bloody hell is my tea? It's been a half-hour!"

MWPP

Later that afternoon, Sirius went into the Ministry to get some extra work done. He and James somehow sensed that the excruciatingly long break they'd been having from their jobs was just going to leave them with massive amounts of work to catch up on once the break was through.

Remus decided he was going to let Sirius think about the plan while he was at work, and get back to him when he'd made his decision. They both knew that Sirius would eventually agree, as he _was_ in dire need of help. The man had virtually no idea how to date someone for the sake of love instead of physical pleasures. In the meantime, Remus was going to get settled in at his new job.

Once he and Lily stepped out into the backyard, pleasure washed over both of them. The weather had been _fantastic_ since summer began, with sparkling sunshine during the day and periods of rain a few nights a week. Remus laughed as Lily threw her arms out and spun around in the yard, her rainbow-colored skirt moving gracefully along with her body. He gazed after her for a while, mesmerized by her beauty. If only he could find a man as free-spirited as Lily Potter.

"I think I can make this garden look a lot better," Remus said, catching up with her and scanning the yard with a half-smile. He noted the holes in the decaying flowerbeds that were so obviously made by Padfoot. Closing his eyes, he felt a warm breeze brush past his skin. The breeze turned into gentle hands as Lily wrapped her arms around him from behind.

"Thank you, Remus."

Remus raised his eyebrows. "Oh, no. I should really be thanking _you_…helping me out at a time like this. A time when who _knows_ what might start happening in this society of ours. A time when most people should probably fear me more than they normally wou—"

"_Please_, don't talk about the war and the Registry and things that are completely irrelevant," she whispered, almost harshly, into his ear as she tightened her squeeze around him. "I was really thanking you for not being stubborn about this whole thing."

He smiled and leaned back into her hug, his eyes still shut. "I learned back in fifth year not to turn away good help from good mates." He felt Lily grin with her face pressed against his back. They stood there peacefully like that for a few moments, caught up in their thoughts of wild, childish pasts.

After a while, Remus started to feel slightly uncomfortable. "Lily," he spoke as calmly as he could, "James can probably see us from the sitting room window. And I'm pretty sure he's been getting the wrong idea about us since first year."

He felt her giggle. "James knows you're special. I've spoken to him over and over about how I feel towards you, and how I feel towards…towards…" she trailed off, her grip tightening even more. Remus could tell immediately that Lily was going to start crying. He knew that there was something personally upsetting about this impending war that Lily hadn't mentioned to any of them, not even to James. They all knew why she hated talking about the war, but sometimes Remus wished she would get these feelings off of her chest. Of course, James would in this case be the worst person to talk to, no matter how the topic was brought up. But Remus couldn't help feeling a little hurt that Lily never spoke to _him_ about it. After all, Remus had been close with Severus in their early years.

"Lily…"

"It's not fair, Remus. Should I have tried harder? Could I have stopped him?" But this wasn't really the time or place to be having this discussion. Dumbledore had told them that as long as the sun was shining, they should make the best of it before they no longer could.

"Shhh…" Remus released Lily from the embrace and turned around to look into her sparkling emerald eyes. "Now it's time for _you_ to stop talking about things that are completely irrelevant."

"Fair enough." She wiped her eyes on her sleeve and they walked back into the house, Remus' arm slung over her shoulder. They could wait another day to get Remus acquainted with the garden.

MWPP

The clock had barely reached eight P.M. when Sirius forcefully threw open the front door of Godric's Hollow. A wide grin spread on his face as he saw two of the house's occupants playing cards at the coffee table.

James leaned over and whispered to Remus. "He's smirking. Why's he smirking?"

Remus' brow furrowed as he watched Sirius make his way slowly up to them. "It's best not to ask questions when he's making expressions like that."

"Oh Moooooony!" Sirius sang when he reached them.

"Oh no…" a light blush formed on the werewolf's cheeks.

"I just wanted you to know that I fully accept your request to go out with me!"

"WHAT!? James almost fell out of his chair. "Moony asked you out?" his gaze shifted suddenly to Remus, who's face was quickly changing to bright crimson. "Moony, you asked out _Padfoot_?"

Remus groaned. "No, I DID NOT ask him out. I—"

Sirius grasped one of Remus' shoulders and cut him off mid-sentence. "Moony here just wants to instruct me on the less sexual pleasures that go along with having an _intimate_ relationship." James looked startled at what he believed was a sudden and unexpected 'development' between his two friends.

Remus waved his arms around and shook his head frantically. "No, no, James! That's not what he meant to say!"

"Wait, wait, wait. Seriously can you two explain yourselves _clearly_, otherwise I'm going to continue to misunderstand," James said, furrowing his eyebrows and placing both hands on his hips. His posture and expression was extremely reminiscent of Lily, and Sirius couldn't suppress a smirk. "What are you laughing at!" James shouted at his friend.

Remus moved in front of Sirius. "Please, James. Calm down. Look, I'll explain, since Sirius can't seem to use phrasing that doesn't involve the word 'sex'." It was common knowledge that Remus spoke with his hands, so Sirius stepped away from him just as the rapid gesture for "sex" shot in his direction. "Basically, I'm going to be teaching Sirius how to act like a gentleman on dates— "

"Yeah, it seems he thinks my lovely pureblood family never taught me any manners—"

"LESSON NUMBER ONE: DO NOT SPEAK WHILE YOUR DATE IS SPEAKING! And I most certainly was _not_ taking a jab at your family," the werewolf was looking murderous. Sirius took a few more large steps away from his friend, wide-eyed. Now it was James' turn to smirk.

"Oh man, Pads. He's already got you whipped!"

"Shut up!" Sirius barked.

Remus continued, directing his attention to James. "If Sirius is indeed going to fall in love, he's going to need to learn how to properly court someone."

"First of all, who the heck 'courts' someone anymore? Any secondly, Sirius'll be learning how to court _you_?" the bespectacled boy leaned around Remus to shoot Sirius another "what the fuck?" look. Sirius shrugged. Everything from here on out was pretty much out of his control.

"Moony's going to teach me how to date someone I hope to have an actual relationship with, that's all."

James nodded. "Glad you finally clarified. So…" The other two looked at him expectantly. "Should I expect you to be snogging at the Order meeting tomorrow?"

Remus shook his head. "We haven't actually discussed this in full yet, but there will be no snogging whatsoever. We're trying to get Sirius to realize there's more to romance than—"

"Besides, this is _Remus_ we're talking about! I have the utmost respect for him, and I would never take advantage of a situation like this to throw him against a wall and snog his pants off!" Sirius puffed out his chest as he spoke.

Remus' eyes narrowed. "Somehow, I have less confidence in you now."

"Somehow, I have zero confidence in _both_ of you," said James. "I know you guys inside and out, and I can tell this could end up going two ways. Either Padfoot will to lose it and sexually assault you…" Sirius spluttered in protest "…or you're going to get nowhere and it'll basically give you guys a chance to hang out more often."

"I hope it'll be the latter, for both our sakes," said Remus optimistically. He got up from his seat, stretched, and headed toward the kitchen. Sirius slumped down into the now vacant seat at the coffee table.

James shook his head. Moving in to the Potter's house that day had made Remus surprisingly open and cheerful…which was a pleasant change from his behavior in the few days surrounding his Registry. James glanced over at Sirius, who seemed to be lost in thought. "You know, Pads. Maybe I should have asked him to live here after graduation. It might have saved him a year's worth of unhappiness."

Sirius remained silent, so James punched him in the shoulder. "What?"

James shook his head again. "Never mind. So what cases did you read up on at the office today? You better not have screwed up what I organized last night," he threatened.

"Uh, er…"

"Oh _I_ get it. You spent the entire time thinking about Moony." He nudged Sirius in the arm.

Sirius stood up, threw his arm around James' neck, and rubbed his other fist into the man's hair. "Was not! I just needed some time to think about his plan, that's all!"

"But Sirius," James said slyly as he ducked out of his friend's grip, "that still means you were thinking about him. What in Merlin's name did you _think_ I was referring to?" he was grinning ear to ear as he spoke.

"LILY! You'd better get out here and say goodbye to your husband before I kill him!"

MWPP

"Any idea why the Ministry's got us Aurors on such a long break?" asked Kingsley Shacklebolt. A few others glanced over at him and noticed he'd gotten a few more pierces since the last meeting. The Order of the Phoenix, which held its summertime gatherings in the Hogwarts Great Hall, hadn't actually held a proper meeting since March when word got out that Bellatrix Black and Lucius Malfoy had begun actively recruiting Death Eaters.

Dumbledore sighed and nodded his head. "I do believe that the Ministry has been developing a new system for training Aurors during this time of war. Though I daresay some of you may not be there to test it out."

"Um, sir? What do you mean?" Alice Longbottom inquired politely. Dumbledore smiled at her.

"Well, the reason I called a meeting today was not because I believe Voldemort is planning any attacks." Most of the Order members looked significantly relieved, although Remus noticed some of the more eager-to-fight members scoffing…notably Mad-Eye Moody. Dumbledore continued. "No, but what I am about to ask of you might sound a little odd."

What _didn't_ sound odd coming out of Dumbledore's mouth? They'd come to accept the Hogwarts Headmaster's strange requests long before any of them had joined the Order of the Phoenix. He continued, "I need a group of you to travel to the States for a few days and recruit allies."

Okay, _that_ was odd.

"Professor," began Lily, whose eyes were wild with excitement, "James and I would _love_ to go!" Everyone in the room turned to stare at her, and James made a little noise in the back of his throat.

"No, Lily…" he whispered harshly in her ear. "I need to get back to work!"

"Hush!" She pushed his face away with her hand. "Please, Professor Dumbledore!"

"Can you and James be ready by Monday?" Lily clapped a hand over her husband's mouth and nodded her head vigorously. The Headmaster smiled warmly at his former Head Girl's energetic attitude. "Good. I'm also going to need a few more of you to go along with them. We need to show our potential allies that we are not a small group of rebels."

Dumbledore scanned the room over his half-moon spectacles. Not many of its occupants were as thrilled as Mrs. Potter about traveling to another country, when so much had to be done in Britain. His gaze fell upon a certain young man, sound asleep and drooling with his head resting on Remus Lupin's shoulder. Remus stared back at Dumbledore, his face flushed with embarrassment. There was no way for him to shake his head in protest to Dumbledore's inevitable request—as there was a ten percent chance Sirius would wake up, and a 90 percent chance he would fall over into Remus' lap. And Remus_ really_ didn't like those odds. Dumbledore tried his hardest not to laugh at the uncomfortable-looking werewolf, but the twinkle in his eye always gave him away. "Ah, I daresay we have two more worthy candidates," he said to Remus.

Sirius let out a loud snore.

* * *

A/N: Please, please, please review! I love it when people favorite my story, but I love it even more when they tell me why! Also, constructive criticism is always welcome. I know this chapter seems a little different than the previous ones. Also, a question: Should I shorten these chapters a bit? Are they too long? It's hard for me to post less content at a quicker pace, but summer will be upon me in a week and a half, giving me 108 days to write lots of fanfic!

(1) I named Sirius' motorcycle after the Roman goddess of the moon, Diana.


	5. The Long and Winding Road

Please refer to previous chapters for my summary and disclaimer (Read: The author is lazy).

A/N: SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG TO UPDATE. (also sorry this chapter seems drawn out and filler-like. It is leading up to the good stuff I swear). I ended up using the summer months to play _Phoenix Wright_ games and read _Twilight.  
_Anyway, a special thank-you to my lovely reviewers for last chapter: justification to wormtail, Wuff, Moonsign, RL4SBnotNT, vivienneandfred, LouisaB, fluxx, Finnity, Miss-Janine, dristi, rekahneko, ProtegoNox, Miss Music666, monkmonkmonk, 2Padfoot00Moony8, littleannoying, Avahin, BLAHBLOT, and xXSasuke's OnlyXx.

**Chapter Five**: The Long and Winding Road

If Lily were a man, and not his wife, James would have punched her. But then of course, if Lily were a man, and not his wife, Remus would probably be married to her and would subsequently beat James to a bloody pulp for punching the male Lily. So instead, James just stood out by the beech tree near the Lake and glared at her. In return, she smiled sweetly back at him, immune to his anger. Remus stood a distance away, looking slightly more nervous than usual as he shifted his attention from James to Sirius. The latter was currently chatting animatedly with Peter about a "muggle recreational activity" called "skipping stones" that he learned about on a date with the owner of a boat rental shop.

The air outside was pleasant once again, and Lily couldn't help smiling despite standing face-to-face with her enraged husband. It was just so nice to be able to see what the Hogwarts grounds looked like during the summer months. It was a shame, however, that the professors were away on summer holiday, otherwise she and Remus could have Professors Slughorn and Sprout to help them figure out exactly what needed to be planted in the garden. Well, there would be plenty of time to send owls to them after the trip to America. Lily smiled even wider just thinking about it. She glanced over at Remus, who looked like he was ready to have an anxiety attack. "Remus, dear. What's wrong?"

Remus' eyes widened and he immediately began waving his arms around in a "please drop the subject" sort of way. Lily rolled her eyes and turned back to James…but it was too late.

"What? Something's wrong with Moony?" Sirius seemed to have materialized in front of Remus, whose face was drained of color.

"I…I'm fine, Sirius. I'm perfectly…"

"OH FOR MERLIN'S SAKE, REMUS!" cried James suddenly. Sirius jumped and Remus groaned. "Pads, what these two idiots are trying to keep secret from you is that they're delaying our return to work for two more days! While you were snoring, Dumbledore assumed that Remus' consent was your consent!"

"WHAT!" cried Sirius, his eyes bulging and his hands raking through his long, black hair. He shot a stern look at Remus, who was a little scared despite his usual bravery when dealing with Sirius and James. Meanwhile, Peter tried unsuccessfully to hide behind the trunk of the tree.

Remus began mumbling, "It…it's not what you think, Sirius. I just didn't want to wake…"

"Ahem!"

All four men jerked their heads in Lily's direction. She smiled as sweetly as ever, and addressed Sirius. "Sirius, dear. Which restaurant would you like to visit on our trip to New York City?"

"WE'RE GOING TO NEW YORK CITY!?" the man looked like he had exploded with eagerness. "When! When! When!" he asked, jumping up and down. His shirt flew up slightly with each jump, showing off much whiter skin than that of his face and arms. Lily quirked an eyebrow as she noticed Remus staring at Sirius' stomach, in spite of himself. She shook her head as she recalled all the Hogwarts memories she had of the long haired Marauder hopping around like a rabbit underneath this very beech tree.

"Why, I believe we're leaving this very Monday. A trip for four to one of the most exciting cities in the world!" She couldn't help but snicker as she watched the glee take over Sirius' body.

James, however, was livid. "Padfoot, think! I just told you the situation we're in, weren't you listening! We aren't going to be able to go back to work because of Lily and Remus!"

Remus spoke up. "Hey, it wasn't my faul—" his sentence was completely cut off by Sirius' body throwing itself around him. He felt his friend's surprisingly thin arms squeeze tightly around his torso, and found it incredibly difficult to continue speaking coherently. "Umm…"

"Moooony! You got us a vacation in New York! I know we've only been going out for a few hours, but WOW! You're already the best boyfriend I've ever had!"

Remus blushed violently. "G-get off me, Sirius!" he eventually detached the other man from the fierce hug. Sirius didn't seem fazed by this at all. He sported a wide smile on his face, which matched Lily's perfectly. "I'm not your _boyfriend_, Sirius, so stop joking around. And it was _Dumbledore_ that chose us for the mission, not me."

Sirius rubbed his fist on the top of Remus' head. "And you knew it was my lifelong dream to live it up in the Big Apple! Oh Remmie!" Sirius made to hug Remus again.

"Geroff! Why do I even bother with you prepubescent chuckleheads?" Sirius answered his question with a pair of puppy eyes. Remus sighed and turned to James. "Look, Prongs. Why don't you just let Lily and Sirius go? Dumbledore can force someone else to take our places. We all know how excited Mundungus would be to get the chance to check out the American wizarding black market."

Sirius was shocked. "Moony! I don't want to go to New York City with _Dung_! I want to go with you! We can go on our first date and get the lessons started sooner!"

"Wish we could get work started sooner," mumbled James. He noticed the pout forming on Lily's face. When had his wife learned how to perfect the 'Padfoot pout'? "Lily, I'm not going to just let you travel to another country without me, let alone with Sirius. If you honestly want me to go on a _two-day Order mission_ with you, I suppose I'll have to concede." Lily squealed with delight. James continued. "And Remus, you're certainly not going to get out of this one if I'm forced to go. Who the hell is going to look after this joker?" James pointed to Sirius, who had grabbed Lily's hands and had the both of them jumping up and down.

"Umm…" Remus turned his head to glance at the trunk of the beech tree.

"Oh please no, Moony. I don't care for big cities," said Peter, who was smiling apologetically. "Plus, you're the only one of us who Padfoot actually listens to. Without you, he might end up stranded in some alleyway or caught up in some prostitution ring!"

"Oh you'd like that, wouldn't you Wormy?" said Sirius smugly.

"Shut it, Padfoot! You're the one who frequents Soho!"

"_Frequented_. Past tense, my dear Wormtail. I've got a man now…I can't be joining you in the glorious sensations that emanate from Soho."

A narrow-eyed Remus cleared his throat. "Okay, okay, I'll be going to New York City, if that's what you want. Let's stop arguing. I'm pretty sure Hogwarts has massive mosquitoes in the summertime, so I'm going to head back before they catch on to my sweet blood."

"Mmmmm," said Sirius, which earned a glare from the werewolf.

The Marauders and Lily headed out toward Hogsmeade station after a very brief word with Dumbledore about the trip. He really only told them how to get to New York…but when they asked him what they were actually supposed to _do_ there, he very cryptically responded, "Sometimes we don't know that we've made friends until the time comes for us to call on those friendships and put them to the test."

It proved difficult to keep Sirius silent as they traveled across the Hogwarts Apparation Barrier just outside Hogsmeade. Once Sirius and Peter bid the Potters and Remus farewell, and they had all Disapparated to their respective homes, Lily accosted Remus. "Why is Sirius acting so hyperactive? Is he usually like that after a nap?" James walked up to the door while the two were talking, and began fumbling through his trouser pockets for the house key.

Remus gave Lily a funny look. "How should I know? He only seems just as excited about going to America as you are. He's just trying to get attention, although I can't imagine why he'd want attention from his own friends." He sighed and tried to avoid the conversation by offering to unlock the front door with his own key.

Lily leaned into Remus as he opened the door and whispered, "I think he's only trying to get _your_ attention."

"THAT'S BOLLOCKS!"

"Woah! Don't holler at my wife you ungrateful arse!" Unfortunately for James, the glint in his eyes gave him away, as he found Remus' sudden outburst quite amusing.

The other man glared at James and said wife. "I'm sorry I have to be short with you all, but I'm already getting sick of everyone poking fun at this 'situation' between myself and Sirius."

"Um, in case you haven't noticed, Sirius is the only one _poking fun_," noted Lily. "Which is why it seems like he's trying to get your attention."

"You gotta admit, mate. Pads seems to have gotten himself really pumped up for these 'date lesson' things," said James thoughtfully.

Remus shook his head and followed Lily into the kitchen to help with dinner. "Gives him something to keep his mind on anyway."

MWPP

James, Sirius, Lily, and Remus had been instructed by Dumbledore to travel to a secluded suburb at the very edge of London, where they would be departing to New York City via Portkey. Sirius was _supposed _to Apparate to Godric's Hollow at five o' clock in the morning so that they could all set out together. But for whatever reason—probably to provoke Remus—Sirius decided to travel to the Potters' on his flying motorcycle.

"Sirius, you can't bring your motorbike through an International Portkey! There's a weight capacity, you dumbass!" Sirius blinked a few times. Why the hell was Remus screaming at him so early in the morning? Could this be how it feels to have a moody boyfriend? Sirius yawned and positioned himself behind the werewolf. Boyfriend or not, the only way to get Remus to shut up was to touch him, and Sirius knew this very well.

"Are you even awake? I said you're going to have to leave your precious Diana beh—" Suddenly, Remus was completely still. Although Sirius was clearly half asleep, the man could give pretty decent shoulder massages. Remus smiled. "This wasn't a lesson, but I have to give you credit for knowing exactly what to do in this situation." Sirius replied with another Padfoot-like yawn. He lifted his fingers from his friends' shoulders and trudged over to his motorcycle. Since he didn't feel up to arguing with an irate werewolf, he performed some charms to lock Diana to the Potters' back porch.

James and Lily watched from a distance away, beaming at their friends while finishing the placement of security charms on their house. It was blatantly obvious that neither Remus nor Sirius were morning people, as Remus became much bitchier than usual and Sirius seemed almost incapacitated. When Remus had been watering the lawn a few minutes ago, Lily almost laughed out loud when he started shooting hexes at Padfoot, who was seated on top of Diana's large tire tracks and wagging his tail innocently. They were a real pair, these two. James had probably known this for years, but Lily couldn't help but find the interactions between Remus and Sirius fascinating. Every time the two of them met, it was an epic adventure…it was like watching them run a never-ending marathon with no other participants but each other.

She could only imagine what romantic dates between Remus and Sirius would be like.

After the one-sided bickering had subdued, the four of them Apparated to a place called The Burrow. There they met Arthur Weasley, whom they vaguely remembered hearing stories about while they were in Hogwarts. Arthur had been noted as being the first pureblood wizard to get top marks on the Muggle Studies N.E.W.T. Lily took an immediate liking to Arthur's wife Molly, who had recently become pregnant with her sixth child.

"How do I get my husband to agree to having a baby?" Lily whispered to Molly, who was grinning at Lily as though she'd been waiting her whole life for someone to ask that question.

Molly glanced over at James and whispered her response to Lily. "Just tell him that making a baby involves an 'extraordinary amount of sex'. I guarantee he won't be able to refuse you, dear." Lily nodded her head and blushed violently at the thought. Although she was grateful that Molly had whispered her answer, Lily was _not_ grateful for Remus' heightened sense of hearing. He shook with uncontrollable laughter until Lily temporarily cursed his face to the back of Sirius' neck.

Arthur Weasley and his three-year-old son Percy—who definitely _was_ a morning person—took them part of the ways to the International Portkey, which was located in a forested area a few kilometers from The Burrow. Despite Lily's best efforts to practice bonding with small children, Percy seemed completely smitten with Remus. Remus was in a considerably better mood after finding amusement in Lily's discomfort, so he passed the time spinning tales of Hogwarts Prefecture to little Percy.

"Kids don't want to hear about your snooty Prefect privileges, Moony," Sirius said, punching Remus in the arm. "Hey Percy, I have a FLYING MOTORBIKE!"

"BRILLIANT!" cried Arthur.

"That's against the law," said Percy.

Remus smiled. "Very good, Percy. It _is_ against the law."

"You guys are no fun."

Eventually Arthur and Percy took their leave, and the rest of the hike to the Portkey passed without incident. When they finally arrived at the spot, they were mildly surprised to find a medium-sized American flag lying on the ground in front of them. "Is this really how they make an International Portkey?" questioned Lily. "It's kind of…"

"Obvious," finished James. "Any Muggle could just waltz over and pick this thing up. Especially since it's foreign looking and—PADFOOT WHAT THE _HELL_ IS THAT?"

"What?" cried Sirius, who was currently rummaging through his luggage. The minute he pulled a bright red and green electric guitar from his "Undetectable Extension Charmed" bag, the others knew they were in for trouble. Sirius strapped the guitar around his shoulders and stared innocently at his befuddled friends. "What?" he asked again. Remus, James, and Lily all looked back at him as though his face had transformed into the Giant Squid.

"He looks like Christmas," James whispered to Lily.

"He looks like an idiot," noted Remus, shaking his head. "I told you not to bring your rubbish, Sirius. Why do you always do things like this? James, why does he always do things like this?" Remus glared at James as though the man were Sirius' keeper.

James waved his arms around. "Keep me out of this!"

Sirius looked hurt. "Mooooony! I want to give New York City a good first impression! They might even let me into a concert for free if I wear this thing!"

Remus furrowed his eyebrows. "We're visiting the New York City _wizarding_ settlement. I don't think you're going to find too many rock concerts there."

"I know but…"

Lily butted in, "Um, I hate to break it to you, but we aren't going to have enough time to find and buy tickets for a Muggle rock concert in New York City…let alone sit around and wait for you to get 'scouted'."

"I _know_ but…"

"Padfoot…" Remus began.

"PLEEEASE??" Sirius was starting to get stubborn.

"PADFOOT!" shouted Remus. Everyone jumped.

Sirius pouted, clutching the neck of his guitar. "What?"

Suddenly, and quite unexpectedly, Remus smiled. "If you put that guitar back in your bag, and keep it in there for the entire trip, I'll bring you to a really special place for your first lesson."

"S-special date?" Sirius questioned, and Remus hesitated before nodding. He did not elaborate on what this date would entail, but James almost felt like asking. An unmanly blush formed on Sirius' cheeks, causing Lily and James to chuckle lightly. The long haired Marauder glared daggers at them, but immediately returned his guitar to the bag. James blinked. Was Sirius acting this way on purpose? Was it just him, or did Sirius seem a little _too_ excited about dating Remus for this to be just "fake instructional dating", or whatever the hell the two of them were calling it.

The bespectacled Marauder had suspected for years that Sirius harbored secret crushes for both Remus and himself. In fourth year, back when they were all going through the so-called "sexually awkward stage", Sirius had checked James out in the Quidditch locker room nearly every practice. Of course, James understood this crush of Sirius' to be purely unintentional. James _was_ incredibly muscular after all. It stopped happening on a regular basis after a while, but James decided to be as understanding as possible each time he witnessed Sirius peeking at him.

Fifth year was when Remus apparently went through what the library books called "werewolf puberty", which was just like regular puberty only it happened to him all in one week. And it just so happened that his body picked the week he'd been home for the Christmas holiday. When he returned to Hogwarts for the new term, Sirius just _wouldn't leave him alone_. Given the situation, the poor werewolf probably should have been a lot more sexually frustrated than Sirius. But instead, Remus spent weeks with the hood of his shabby robes (which had finally begun to fit him) over his head, hiding behind the chairs in the common room. Sirius, of course, whined and complained about Remus not "sharing his new sexiness" with the rest of the school. He stalked Remus _constantly_ for the remainder of the year, until "That Incident" forced the Marauders to rethink how they should act towards one another.

It became quite apparent to James that his friend seemed to become mildly attracted to people he spent the most time with. But as a few more years passed, and the Marauders had more or less successfully reached adulthood, Sirius had completely stopped looking at James and Remus in a sexual way. And from sixth year on, Sirius had treated Remus as though he were something to cherish and protect. The werewolf was the only person whom Sirius was known to treat with complete and total respect. But somewhere along the line—maybe even in the past few weeks—

that respect must have turned back into attraction without any of them realizing it.

"Hey Pads," James said casually. Lily and Remus were busy looking over a map one last time. Sirius looked at him. "I need to talk to you alone. 'Bout some Auror stuff, you know." Sirius nodded, and James led him far enough away so that Remus' couldn't overhear.

Sirius quickly looked around and then lowered his voice to a whisper. "What's up, Prongsie?"

James leaned close to his friend and whispered, "You know—and I'm just saying this as an outside observer—but it seems like you're really excited to be dating Moony."

"It's not for real!" Sirius snapped back. A few nearby birds scattered.

James' lips curled. "Of course. But be honest…have you ever flirted like that with someone who you knew wasn't going to shag you within the hour?"

"WHAT! That has nothing to do with the Order mission!" Sirius' face was bright red,

"I _know,_ just hear me out."

Sirius crossed his arms. "No, _you_ hear _me_ out! I've been doing a lot of thinking on my situation with Remus recently. And yes, to answer your unspoken question, it _did_ hurt." James snickered. Sirius' expression softened. "I know Moony's doing this just for me, and it makes me feel kind of happy to know that he'd go out of his way to help me during such a difficult time in his life."

"Well, you are a Marauder," James pointed out. "We do anything and everything for each other."

Sirius clapped James on the back. "I know, Prongs, I know. And that's why I'm going to be as responsive to Moony's little 'game' as possible. He thinks he's teaching me how to date so that he can help me…but really, deep down, he just wants something interesting to go on in his life. Something werewolf friendly, something that'll keep him in close contact with his friends—"

"Oh I don't doubt there will be close contact."

"Way to ruin the mood you wanker."

James laughed and raised both his hands. "Hey, I'm just giving the master of double entendre a taste of his own medicine."

The other man sighed. "Whatever. Look, if you want to know the real reason I want to make this work…well…I mean, you get to _live_ with Moony!"

James wasn't quite catching on. "Uh, yeah. And?" He watched Sirius' bizarrely red face with interest, until suddenly it came to him. Sirius was jealous of the fact that Moony was living at Godric's Hollow! "You wanted him to live at your place after Hogwarts, didn't you."

Sirius switched from embarrassed to downtrodden in under a second. Even his hair that just _reeked_ with hairspray seemed to droop. "James…why is it that Lily can get him to move in with you guys so easily? I've asked him _so many_ times to live with me and he refused! Doesn't it bother you that he's _that close_ with your wife that she can get him to do something I can't even get him to consider!" Sirius was breathing heavily, but was looking James straight in the eye.

James took a deep breath. This was a serious matter, but it's not as if he hadn't been thinking about it too. "There's nothing between Lily and Remus except friendship. I really should stop pretending to be angry with the two of them all the time. I mean, I know they're just friends because I trust everything both Moony and my wife say to me. And since I also trust everything _you_ say...it's very clear to me now that your friendship with him has always been something totally different than Lily's." Sirius' eyes narrowed, and James continued. "That's a good thing, Padfoot. You don't have to worry."

"I never said anything about being jealous of their relationship. It doesn't mean anything to me if they're shagging behind our backs."

"…_Shagging?_ Oh Merlin, apparently we're not understanding each other today."

"Apparently not. Let's just forget this conversation ever happened."

"Well I would have if you hadn't mentioned Remus _shagging_ my Lily-flower!"

Sirius chuckled as he walked away from James in the direction of the other two. The bespectacled Marauder watched from a distance, noticing Sirius' suddenly fake, worried smile. And James could bet all the Galleons at Gringotts that Remus noticed it too.

Eventually, the four of them situated themselves enough to each grab a corner of the flag. The ride on the Portkey took a whole five minutes, causing Remus to want to throw up as soon as they were safely on the ground. Ground, however, was an overstatement. Suddenly Remus had found a completely different reason for wanting to throw up.

"Auugh! What on Earth?" he cried. The concrete ground under him was grimy and whatever covered it was now covering his shoes. "Oh no…please don't tell me…oh _we did not_ just land in the sewers! I—" but Lily hushed him and pointed. Two dark figured were stalking down the tunnel that the Marauders had landed themselves in. James and Sirius were already standing in a defensive position, wands out and ready. In spite of the predicament, Remus rolled his eyes. Ever since those two had started Auror training, they had been taking Mad-Eye Moody's 'constant vigilance" to heart. Either that or they still wanted to look cooler than everybody else, even though the days when it was their goal to impress every living soul had long since passed.

Remus squinted at the approaching figures, using his heightened vision to make out exactly what types of people they were. Then, he shook his head and sighed. "James, Sirius…I think you ought to put those sticks back where you found them." The Aurors looked back and gave Remus questioning looks before remembering the agreed upon code sentence for "put away your wands, there might be muggles coming".

When the figures came into view, it became blatantly obvious that they were of the wizarding community. A smiling witch with a massive amount of blonde hair and sparkling red robes rushed up to James and Sirius and began bouncing up and down.

"Mr. Dumbledore told us you were comin'!" when she noticed the surprised looks the four newcomers were giving her, she calmed down a little bit. "The two of us, and our counterparts in Salem, are the only people in contact with the London settlements," the woman said, flipping her long, blonde hair behind her shoulder. A young but tired-looking man stood behind her, with an expression on his face clearly showing that the entering group of wizards intimidated him.

"Um, if you don't mind me asking…who are you?" asked James. Sirius, Lily, and Remus had been about to ask the same thing.

"Oh! Oh sorry about that! I always forget to introduce myself. I'm Maya Chestnut, and this is my partner, Ralph George," she slapped him on the back, startling him quite a bit. "I know our names don't _sound_ too magical, but we're the best witch and wizard in the international relations business!" She continued on about her job and her correspondence with Dumbledore, smiling brightly and shaking the hands of all four of her British guests. Lily politely introduced herself and her three male companions, and showed Maya their wizarding passports and identification.

"International relations!" exclaimed an impressed Lily, as they began following their guides down the damp and dreary sewer pipe. It only took them a few seconds to realize that Maya and Ralph were now using a spell to keep the grime off of everyone's feet. "Everything is so organized! I would have thought we'd have a more difficult time visiting New York."

Maya glanced back at her and smiled sadly. "Well, that's kinda the point of our jobs, hon. This sewer here's international waters, so to speak. Once we cross over into Central Sky City, I can pretty much guarantee the locals aren't gonna treat you as kindly as we do. I mean, we're the only ones who actually know Mr. Dumbledore…"

Sirius and James suddenly looked and felt uneasy. "Wait. Central Sky?" asked James, eyeing Maya and Ralph warily as they stopped in their tracks. Remus and Lily kept walking, but then turned around when they noticed the sudden eerie silence. "I thought we were going to Manhattan."

Maya laughed a little bit nervously. "You _do_ know that the only magical folk living aboveground nowadays are the East Village Vampires, right?" Remus instinctively tensed up at the word 'vampire', and Sirius discreetly moved close enough to grab his friend's shoulder.

"What's wrong with Central Sky City?" Lily asked Maya, cocking her head to one side. Remus would have asked the question, but he seemed to be slightly preoccupied with the thought of the aforementioned vampires. The rest of the group glanced uneasily back at Lily and Remus. "I, er, assumed that's where we were going when Dumbledore said 'New York City'. I mean, what could we _possibly_ accomplish in a city packed with Muggles?"

Ralph cleared his throat unexpectedly and spoke for the first time. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news…but you aren't the first Britons to have arrived in Central Sky this summer." Ralph's voice was soft and painfully quiet, but somehow pleasingly melodic. Remus wondered if his ears were the only ones that could pick it up.

"What does he mean?" Remus asked, looking up at Sirius, who still had his hand clasped tightly to the werewolf's shoulder.

"Well, since we're going to Central Sky, there's no point in trying to keep any Auror Office secrets from you guys…" Sirius began. He swallowed and took a deep breath before continuing. "A group of Death Eaters came here a few weeks ago to recruit…and rumor has it that You-Know-Who himself made an appearance."

"Oh...Oh _god_," was all Remus could say. "I…I didn't know that when Dumbledore asked us to come. That…that raises the stakes a little bit, doesn't it?"

"Just a bit. Dumbledore only found out about the incident last week…but it didn't even cross my mind when he mentioned doing our own recruiting in New York City," said James. Maya and Ralph presumably already knew what Sirius and James were talking about. Nobody in their right mind would want to associate with a group of British wizards, when the ones they were most recently acquainted with were Voldemort and his followers.

"Will you be able to get us into the city?" asked Sirius, who now looked slightly annoyed that this trip had made a turn for the worse before actually beginning. Ever since he'd found out about this mission in New York, butterflies made their way around the inside of his chest and stomach. Which was odd, because he'd previously been on five other Order missions, two of which had been Death Eater surveillance, and he hadn't felt nervous once. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something about this particular mission excited him tremendously.

Maya smiled brightly. "Of course we can! They don't know you're comin' yet, and they won't know you're Brits until you have to speak with them. I'll be escorting you until then…and there's not a single witch or wizard in Central Sky who doesn't love me!" she said boastfully. "Oh, and Ralph's big on connections in Central Sky, believe it or not, so he's been told to set up a town meeting for this afternoon."

"Wow! Thank you," said Sirius, giving Maya an honest-to-goodness authentic Sirius Black smile, equipped with sparkling white teeth and the cute little dimples that Remus poked fun at him for. Maya blushed scarlet and stammered out something that sounded like "you're welcome."

Sirius, of course, in noticing this sudden vulnerability in their guide, immediately turned on the charm in front of her. He'd never been able to pass up wooing a female, even in situations where it was probably unwise to try (such as the time he tried to seduce McGonagall when she'd given him a poor grade on an essay). Remus rolled his eyes; he'd long since realized this was just a natural reflex Sirius possessed. They'd started a somewhat menial conversation about how Maya was "the best International Relations witch he'd ever met". Remus almost snorted at this, as he was _positive_ Sirius hadn't even known what International Relations was until just a few minutes ago. Ralph, however, cleared his throat and somewhat glared when Sirius began running his fingers through one of Maya's long, blonde locks.

Remus smiled and motioned for Ralph to move closer. "Don't worry, mate. Sirius is actually gay, believe it or not," he whispered in the other man's ear.

"Gay? As in, he likes men?" Ralph questioned in a much louder voice than Remus had used, causing Sirius to drop his conversation with Maya in surprise. James and Lily snickered and watched Remus closely, having already figured out what their friend was planning to do.

Remus nodded and whispered into Ralph's ear again. "Just play along for a moment…" The werewolf's lips curled and he raised his voice so the rest of the group could hear. "And _I_ happen to like men as well. And I must say, you're _definitely_ my type." Remus slipped his hand up the American's shoulder, causing his pale face to turn an interesting shade of chartreuse. "Smart?" Remus' hand trailed up to Ralph's neatly gelled hair. "Bookish?"

"Moony!" cried Sirius, rushing over to throw himself in between Remus and Ralph, although Ralph had already taken a few large steps in the opposite direction. "You're cheating on me already?!" Ralph and Maya looked nonplused at Sirius' reaction, and even more so at Remus' sly grin.

"Cheating?" asked Maya incredulously, shock evident in the placement of her eyebrows.

"He's my boyfriend!" cried Sirius, now hugging Remus tightly. He hadn't really meant to get so protective of Remus all of a sudden, but impulsivity got the better of him. Sirius' face turned bright red in embarrassment, and he immediately let go of Remus, whose face was also red…thought it could have been out of anger rather than humiliation. It didn't help that Mr. and Mrs. Chucklehead Potter were now getting their week's worth of enjoyment out of the situation.

Remus put his face in his hand and shook his head. "Ugh, Sirius. I didn't mean for you to make such a scene…"

"Then you probably shouldn't have interfered in your _boyfriend's_ affairs," whispered Lily in the quietest voice she could muster. Remus glared at her, knowing that he was the only one who heard. Then, in a much louder voice, Lily addressed the group. "If we're going to be setting up a meeting this afternoon, I suggest you lot quit this nonsense."

Everyone quickly agreed and followed as Maya and Ralph led the way once more. Slowly, the group was able to decipher a light at the end of the tunnel. About a quarter-mile from the end, Sirius whispered in Remus' ear. "What was _that_ all about? You preach to me about focusing on just one love interest…and here you are flirting with our international correspondent…"

Remus looked at Sirius incredulously, but decided not become any angrier than necessary. His knitted eyebrows gave him away. "Here's your next lesson, Padfoot. If you have a habit of subconsciously making passes at anything that moves…you're going to have to give that up when you have a boyfriend. Otherwise, your boyfriend is not going to think you're serious about him." Sirius was silent for the rest of their brief walk, and Remus assumed this meant he understood.

Once they reached the end of the tunnel, Remus, Sirius, James, and Lily gasped. Maya had explained Central Sky City to them briefly, mentioning its position underneath Central Park and its magically artistic replicas of actual New York City landmarks. She explained how flying carpets were legal in the state of New York, and how they would be lowering themselves to the ground using the carpets. But her explanation was _nothing_ compared to the magnificence of the real thing.

The sewer tunnel had led them to a gated ledge that overlooked the entire city below. It was not difficult to see how the Central Sky City had gotten its name. The presumably concrete ceiling of the underground city was charmed to look like the sparkling blue sky that the city above would have, if not for the smog. It was not unlike the Great Hall at Hogwarts, however it was a million times larger and a million times more breathtaking.

From the spot they were standing, one could see a magically designed version of the Empire State Building, planted smugly in the center of the city. Everything else around that building sort fell into place. Central Sky was significantly smaller than actual Manhattan, so it was not difficult to notice Rockefeller Center, Times Square, and even a mini version of Central Park. The only thing missing from the city (which would be quite noticeable to magical folk from London who had to deal with emersion into the muggle populations), was the lack of the rivers of automobile and buses flowing slowly along the streets. Instead, little dots of witches and wizards bustled where the cars would be, their robes trailing behind them. A few dozen flying carpets could be seen hovering just above the ground.

"Oh _Merlin._"

Remus glanced over at the man who'd spoken and was immediately twice as awestruck. It wasn't often he looked at his friend seriously for more than a few seconds. But maybe, he thought to himself, he should try to do so more often. Just watching Sirius for a brief moment was breathtaking, although it had nothing to do with him being handsome. "_He's in a thoughtful state,"_ Remus realized. His face looked so peaceful, graced with a half-smile and his head cocked slightly to one side. It looked so natural…yet he couldn't remember ever seeing the expression before. "_I wonder how he sees the world right now. I wonder if he perceives this city in a completely different way than I do…than Lily and James…than even the wizards who built this beautiful place…"_ Lily must have been lost in thought too, because she hardly noticed James wrap his arms around her from behind. Remus watched him slip his fingers around her chin and slowly move her head to directly face his own.

Remus smiled as he shifted his gaze from Central Sky City, to Lily and James sharing a kiss, to the dazed Sirius. He didn't want to break up such a rare, sweet moment with his friends, but he was just _itching_ to experience the sights and sounds of the city with them. "Sirius?"

Sirius turned his head and grinned at Remus. "We're not in London anymore." Remus shook his head and held out his hand. Sirius stared at it. "What, is there something on your arm? LEECHES?" his eyes had grown wide, not unlike back during a certain Care of Magical Creatures Lesson when Remus held his arm out and asked Sirius to inspect it. There had indeed been about six or seven Levitating Lake Leeches stuck to his arm. But instead of calmly telling Remus to flick them off with his wand, Sirius _flipped out_ and sent both of them plunging into the Great Lake. Of course, since Sirius' age reduced with every passing year, instead of flipping out at the sight of leeches…he was now going crazy at the _thought _of them.

Everyone laughed and Remus shook his head. "You're already down one point, Padfoot. I wanted you to hold my hand."

"Oh. O-okay then…" a shaking Sirius grasped his friend's hand and pulled him over to the nearest flying carpet. They had only just noticed the pile of carpets awaiting their arrival. As soon as they had both stepped on, the carpet flew up and over the gate, and then began slowly floating downward. Sirius of course, panicked like the little kid he was, threw his arms around Remus, and caused the carpet to tilt slightly and move at an erratic speed. As Sirius continued to hyperventilate, they heard the sound of chuckles from up above. James and Lily's carpet lowered itself at a normal speed, followed by Ralph and Maya's. Their magically-lightened luggage floated downward with a wave of Ralph's wand.

Once everyone was more or less safely on the ground, and Sirius had reluctantly detached his arm from around Remus' middle, Remus whispered in his ear. "Er, Sirius…I suppose I'll have to give you credit for pretending to be scared. That usually wins points during haunted house or flying lesson dates, however."

"_Pretending?_ Are you mad?" he said, his eyes bugging out. "Bloody hell! I think I just had a minor heart attack!"

Remus stared at him flatly. "You're not supposed to admit to something like that you nancy. Plus, don't you ride a flying motorcycle?"

"I can _control_ a motorcycle, Moony. Those things…those _things,_" he spat with discontent, "have minds of their own! It could have crashed straight into a giant seven-story razorblade, and we would have to crash right along with it!"

Remus looked at Sirius for a couple seconds before bursting out into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. Sirius looked startled, along with the rest of the group. "Padfoot! Where…where are there…giant seven-story razorblades?" he asked between laughs. Sirius looked at Remus and blushed, but didn't answer. It was nice to see Remus looking this happy. Suddenly, Sirius was overpowered with an urge to put his arm around his friend. But when he did just that, Remus became still and immediately stopped laughing. Sirius' heart stalled momentarily, wondering if he'd done something he shouldn't have…but in a matter of seconds, he understood the real reason for Remus' actions.

"Excuse me," said a deep, stern voice. Remus and Sirius wheeled around and came face-to-face with a large, bald man dressed in what looked like military robes. "Where are your accents from?"

The rudeness of the question caused James to panic. "Australia!" he cried without thinking. Lily kicked him in the shin. The man's beady eyes bore right into James' before focusing his attention on Maya.

"Miss Chestnut, what are you doing bringing the English here? I thought we were clear when we said no foreigners from the UK." The man's voice was as grumpy and curmudgeonly as his looks.

Maya glared at him, and then turned her attention to her guests. "This is Officer Kahn. He's about the let us walk past him to get into the city, as I have written permission from _Albus Dumbledore,_" she said as she flashed a piece of parchment in front of his face. Officer Kahn stared at the paper for a few seconds, before stepping aside. "Thank you," said Maya forcefully.

"What was that all about?" asked Lily, once they were a good distance away from Officer Kahn.

Maya shook her head. "That was the kind of trouble you're going to get at the meeting today. Are you guys gonna be able to handle it?"

"How many people know about You-Know-Who's visit?" asked James.

Maya looked thoughtful for a moment, but Ralph came out and said it. "Anyone with a connection to the New York Ministry of Magic. It wasn't publicized in the _Daily Sky_, so it mostly perpetuated as rumors through the grapevine."

"So, with family Ministry connections, plus rumors, plus this sudden noticeable dislike for foreigners…" Sirius said through gritted teeth, "I would say I good nine out of ten people would know about it. That is, until the tenth person hears about it from the other nine."

"Sounds about right," sighed Maya.

Maya and Ralph lead them down Broadway Street, which they guessed would be beautifully decorated in the evening. It seemed the wizarding New Yorkers were not as afraid to use electricity as most Londoners were. Walking through the streets, they noticed a healthy dose of regular wizarding shops for books, robes, wands, candy, and the like…but between those were places with names like "American Hypnotism Therapy", "Central Sky Carpets R Us", and "Manhattan Hag Association". American flags and New York paraphernalia were showcased in nearly every window, but with magical twists like "dancing statues of liberty". Vendors pushed their red-white-and-blue carts down the sidewalks with their wands. The level of patriotism in the city was astonishing…much higher than its non-existent counterpart in London.

They stopped for a brief rest in an alleyway. James got into a heated discussion with Maya and Ralph about Quidditch, while Sirius decided to go worship a muggle record store that had mysteriously made its way into wizarding territory. Remus looked to the left of the record store and noticed a rather sketchy magical testing lab. He furrowed his eyebrows and walked up to take a closer look at a flier in the window, which read:

"Is your howling keeping your family and neighbors up at night? Are medical bills and self-caging devices costing you a fortune? Lycanthropes from all walks of life are invited to be a part of an innovative magical discovery. A groundbreaking new potion called "Wolfsbane", which could have the power to curb full transformation, is in need of some werewolf testers. Floo or send an owl to Dr. Damocles Belby…." It went on to give some contact information and a short biography of the doctor, who was Welsh. If Remus weren't so shocked by the entire flier itself, he would have found it interesting that a potioneer would actually call himself a "doctor", which sounded like such a muggle title.

He hadn't noticed Lily standing behind him until she gasped. "I've heard of this potion! It uses the effect of aconite on werewolves in an astounding way! If its recipe gets approval by the Legal Potions Branch of the Ministry, it can curb the side effects of lycanthropy to almost Animagus status! Damocles Belby graduated Hogwarts a few years before we arrived. Don't you remember Slughorn always raving about him…Remus?"

"Why are they advertising something like this so publicly? If a werewolf was seen talking to Belby, or even picking up one of these fliers, don't you think he'd be ostracized?"

Lily frowned. "I'm not good with politics, but I do believe Central Sky is a very liberal city. You saw that Hag Association place back there. There's no Dolores Umbridge in New York, that's for sure."

"Although I'm sure she'd be very welcome at the Hag Association," said Sirius, joining in the conversation and throwing an arm around Remus' shoulder. "Finally get to meet some of her own kind, right?"

Remus laughed, but his eyes stayed glued to the flier. "Lily, why didn't you tell me about this potion before? If something like this was on the brink of discovery, why would the Ministry even bother trying to brand us like cattle?"

"I'm so sorry, really. Back when I heard about this potion, it was still in the early development stage. I didn't, um, want you to get your hopes up…but this flier makes it sound very legitimate!" she said, watching him closely to detect any signs of anger. But instead, he stayed very pensive.

"Pads, do you have ink and parchment?"

Sirius barked out a laugh. "I'm shocked! I thought you knew me better than that!"

Remus grinned at him. "I know you better than you think…and right now I _know_ for a fact that you packed ink and parchment on the rare occasion that you could impress me when I ask you for some."

Sirius reveled in his own drama. "Oh Moony, you caught me! I'm the open book to your bookworm!" Remus chuckled and ordered Sirius to retrieve the ink and parchment from his luggage.

"Lily why are you blushing?" James whispered into her ear.

"Remus and Sirius…they're very cute with one another, don't you agree?"

James cocked his head to one side and looked fondly at his friends. "I don't know about _cute._ But they do have a certain air about them. Almost like they're untouchable, out of reach. You know. They're in their own little world and not even they realize it."

Maya and Ralph approached, wondering what was so fascinating about the entrance to a medical testing facility. Maya then glanced over Remus' shoulder as he took down Damocles Belby's contact information. "Oh, are you looking into the Wolfsbane potion? I know a few guys who are trying it out."

The bottle of ink slipped through Remus' fingers and smashed on the cement. Sirius quickly performed a repairing charm and cleaned up the ink, while Remus gaped at Maya. "You _know_ a few guys? Werewolves?"

"Um, duh! You can't try out the Wolfsbane potion unless you're a werewolf…oh. Oh I forgot."

"What?" asked Remus, looking slightly on edge.

"I read in the International section of the _Daily Sky…_that disgusting registry bullshit. Werewolves in Britain must hate not being treated like normal citizens."

Remus was astounded. "I…I had no idea New York was so _liberal_. Now I _have _to talk to this Belby fellow."

Ralph stepped forward and spoke. "It's not that we're liberal. It's just that we've got a lot of werewolves here."

"I see…"

James cleared his throat. "Hey. We can stand here and have vague conversations all day, or we can prepare for this meeting. What do you say?"

"Aye aye, Prongsie!" shouted Sirius. Any and all awkward conversation ended, and the group re-focused themselves for the challenge that waited ahead.

* * *

Coming up next: The meeting, the "special first date", and Remus' decision to meet with Damocles Belby. Don't worry; the next chapter won't take five months to update. Now that I'm back at school, I have a lot of fanfic that I plan to write when I should be doing work.

Author's Note: I actually didn't get the idea for Central Sky City to be underground from Futurama. I only just realized the connection about five minutes after I'd finished the chapter. I'm sure I subconsciously got it from Futurama, however…which clearly means I need to stop watching so many cartoons.

PLEASE REVIEW!


	6. Revolution 1

**Disclaimer:** F.A.N.F.I.C. stands for DO NOT OWN.

**Summary:** see previous chapters

**Author's Note:** Okay, the reason my posts are taking so long is because it's really stressing me out to have to write 8000 word chapters. So I've come up with a lovely solution: I'm going to post shorter chapters so they can come out more frequently! This means yay for me cuz it's less stress, and yay for you because you get quicker updates. I know some of you guys love my long chapters, but I'm just not up to it. It's a mind thing really. I'm just an awfully slow writer, so I'm hoping that the feedback I receive for updating more frequently will help inspire me! ^^

As far as this chapter is concerned: I'm sorry it's so lame and weird. But it really needs to be in here.

People I love because they reviewed: **dristi**, **rekahneko, LouisaB, Inky74, Zoe, Avahin, BLAHBLOT, Franny, **and **sierra's scarlet**

Chapter Six: Revolution 1

For a few fleeting moments, James thought about utilizing the stage that presented itself to them in the city hall building. A stage was an excellent place to stand if you wanted to be noticed, to be heard, and to be taken seriously in a crowd of a good five hundred people. He and Sirius scanned the crowd, and immediately noticed a vibe about the room that was completely different from a gathering that would have taken place in Britain. The citizens of Central Sky were so _energetic_ as a whole, and much less stuffy than their aristocratic brothers from across the pond. The mix of colorful clothing in the room reminded James fondly of Albus Dumbledore. That man always did have a knack for creating a positive atmosphere. However, James wasn't soon going to forget the warnings that Maya and Ralph had given them about how accepting the New Yorkers were of the British.

Then, a thought crossed James mind that seemed almost perfect, if not brilliant. These people respected Dumbledore at least to some extent…and Dumbledore almost _never_ stood above them when he spoke at Order meetings. He always spent time speaking down at their level (or at least as close to their level as an extraordinarily tall wizard could get.) So James and Sirius would not use the stage. The New Yorkers were their equals after all, and the Order wanted to come across as strong but humble at the same time.

He and Sirius stood with their backs leaning against the front of the stage. They faced the Americans as they filed in, stood in tiny groups to chat, and eventually settled down into seats. The large amount of people in pleasant moods unfortunately could not outweigh the few rather angry looking skeptics that sat directly in the front. They could have chosen to glower at James and Sirius from the darkened back row—where people such as them normally sat—but _no_. They _had_ to sit directly in the front; their murderous stares suffocating the poor Aurors who were already wishing Dumbledore had given this assignment to the ever-smiling Frank Longbottom.

He heard Sirius let out a shaky breath. James would probably have sounded like that too, if he could actually remember _how_ to breathe. Thoughts about what to say to these people were jumbled up inside his head, and he had NO IDEA how to articulate them. Lily and Remus also sat in the front row, and both of them were smiling reassuringly to counteract the people sitting around them. James' heart calmed down tremendously when Lily blew him a kiss. Deep down, he wished Remus would do _something_ to calm down Sirius…but what should he expect? They weren't real boyfriends after all.

James and Sirius stuck their hands in their pockets and pulled out their wands, getting them ready for the speeches. Both men pointed to their necks and said "_Sonorus_".

"Erm," said James' magnified voice. He decided that he would start, as none of them could ever trust Sirius to make good first impressions. The room quieted, all eyes fixed on the two wizards from Britain. Unfortunately the downside of not standing on a stage was that not all of the people in the room could see them probably. Hopefully they would still appreciate the personal feeling of having the speakers brought down to their level.

Sirius grinned as he caught the attention of a group of pretty girls sitting with Maya and Ralph. He was about to wink at them when he saw Maya whispering something to the first girl, who in turn whispered to the rest. A few moments later, it seemed that the entire room somehow knew he was gay, as not a single girl looked happy. Sirius supposed this was probably for the best. He wouldn't want Remus getting angry with him for hitting on girls anymore.

Speaking of Remus, why hadn't he ever told Dumbledore that he was _this good_ at silent, wandless magic? Once Sirius' gaze locked with Remus', even for just a split second, Sirius' whole body felt somehow rejuvenated as though Remus were performing a calming charm. He smiled and looked over at James, who was finally ready to speak.

"Fellow wizards and witches…" he began. Sirius rolled his eyes. This was going to be the most cliché speech ever presented. "…I'll bet you can't guess where my accent's from!" Or maybe not, Sirius thought. Most of the audience laughed, which was surprising…but a very good sign nonetheless. "I get the feeling none of you have any idea what we're actually here to talk to you about." More laughter and general agreement. "Well, we're going to be completely honest with you…we don't know why we're here either." He'd finally caught the attention of the skeptics in the front row. James and Sirius then both took turns introducing themselves. And the former was _extremely _relieved to find that the latter had not turned to his usual theatrics when it came to introductions.

James decided to get straight to the point. "I heard about what happened to you guys not too long ago...you know, those aristocratic wizards in dark cloaks and masks came and jostled some of you lot around, right? Well let me tell you—"

"They freak the hell out of us too," Sirius butt in. "It's summer, for Merlin's sake, and they're dressing like every day's bloody Halloween!" Remus snorted and shook his head fondly.

James continued. "Yes, as my friend so eloquently put it, those guys are seriously freaky. And I'm sure an open-minded settlement such as yours can understand the hardships we're going through right now as we face the brink of a war…" James went on to explain the Order of the Phoenix, trying his best to mention Dumbledore's name as often as possible. The audience was surprisingly silent as he told them about Voldemort and his Death Eaters, political viewpoints, and attacks on muggles.

James paused in his speech to scan what he could see of the crowd from his angle. He immediately regretted the pause. "Get to the point! What do you want from us!" cried a rather impatient-looking wizard in the front row.

Sirius frowned. "We're getting to that you tosser!" The wizard looked affronted.

"Sirius!" Remus cried from the audience, causing the skeptics who sat around him to awkwardly shift around in their seats.

James shook his head and tried to fix the situation. "I'm sorry, everyone. But please, listen…we need you to…to..." _Shit_, he thought. Now that they've explained the situation, how are they going to actually persuade these people to join the cause? Sirius looked over and noticed James was in trouble.

"We're asking for some allies, that's all!" Sirius' magnified voice bounced off the walls. He knew immediately that he'd taken the wrong approach. The room erupted…or at least the first few rows did.

"If you're asking us to come fight in your stupid war, you can count us out!"

"We abolished blood aristocracy a long time ago!"

"How do we know you work for Dumbledore?"

"Why isn't he with you?"

Maya and Ralph scrambled towards the front to try and calm them down, but not before…

"I saw YOU with those hooded people you call Death Eaters!" An elderly witch in the third row pointed a shaking index finger at Sirius. A few people gasped, but none as loudly as Sirius.

"_Excuse_ me?" Sirius hollered in defense. "I would _never_!"

"I saw him too!" cried one of the girls he almost winked at a few minutes ago. "He was standing right next to that Voldemort guy!"

"He threatened to use the Imperius curse on my father!"

"What?!" Sirius removed his wand from his neck and tried to assume a defensive stance, but shock and confusion paralyzed him.

Everyone in the audience was now staring at Sirius in astonishment, including Lily and Remus, the latter of whom looking as though his brain was working faster than ever. Even James couldn't help but take a few steps away from the man standing next to him.

"I'm not a Death Eater!" Sirius' voice sounded strangled. "Oh my _god,_ James why do they think I'm a Death Eater?"

James' face was pale and his hazel eyes wide. He shook his head at Sirius' question, failing in his attempt to keep the shock from showing in his expression.

"James! Help!"

People all over the room began standing up and taking out their wands, effectively ending the pleasant mood many of them had exuded earlier. But just before they started to get rambunctious, Remus called out over the crowd, "Oh my god, Sirius! Your brother!"

Sirius' heart stopped and he sank to the floor, just as Maya cast a crowd-calming charm. His throat burned, but his eyes stayed surprisingly dry. James and Lily were suddenly on either side of him, and James was grasping his shoulder. But the person he really wanted by his side was currently standing on the stage with a wand pointed at his neck.

"Excuse me everyone!" Remus thanked Merlin for his decidedly soothing voice. "My colleagues seemed to think it was best to stand down at the audience's level…but I doubt that's really going to be effective a this point. My name is Remus Lupin, and I'd like to explain."

"Please do!"

Remus had a brief feeling of déjà vu, remembering the many times he had to address the Hogwarts Great Hall on behalf of his idiot friends. Thinking of the situation this way helped calm Remus tremendously. "The Death Eater you saw a few weeks ago goes by the name of Regulus Black, the younger brother of Sirius. I can assure you that this is a worse shock to us than you could possibly imagine."

"Prove it!"

Remus' trademark exasperated sigh filled the room. "Please try to understand how hard it must be to find out that your brother is a Death Eater by listening to a crowd of people who have clearly been terrorized by him."

"Are you telling us we should feel sorry for the brother of one of those horrific men?"

"I'm not telling you to feel sorry for anybody. I also can't prove to you that Sirius and Regulus are two separate people." Sirius' eyes widened. Where was Remus going with this? The man on the stage continued. "But I _can_ try to persuade you that believing in the side of good, the side of Dumbledore, is the right thing to do. Although it's a difficult decision that needs to be taken very seriously."

The room stayed quiet for once, and Remus took the opportunity to test out a question he'd been mulling over in his head. "How many people in this room are friends with a werewolf?" To Remus' surprise, a good one-quarter of the audience raised their hands proudly. He smiled. "In London, werewolves are given two options: we can either join Voldemort…or we can be controlled by the government, who believes that we have no free will to choose the side of good for ourselves." Remus rolled up his sleeve to reveal the glowing red brand mark etched on his arm by Umbridge. "Either way, we're branded for life." Sirius, James, and Lily, who had never heard Remus talk about his lycanthropy so openly in front of others, immediately joined him on stage.

Remus smiled warily at his friends. "We all have hardships right now, but we're doing the best we can to overcome them. The idea of friends and family has never been more difficult to comprehend…"

Lily pointed her own wand to her neck, and continued Remus' sentence, "…and all we ask is that you keep our country in your thoughts as we deal with this time of oppression. I heard someone say something about blood purity and aristocracy a minute ago…and I just wanted to say that right now our society is paying the price for relying too much on that system. As a muggle-born, I wasn't allowed to apply for a position in at least half of the departments at the Ministry…"

"And as a werewolf, I wasn't even able to have a job at a bookstore," said Remus.

Sirius, although still shaken up about his brother and the accusations, slowly raised his wand to his neck and whispered, "_Sonorus". _He spoke in a hoarse voice, "I-it doesn't matter who _we_ are, really. We just want you to understand that when the time comes, Dumbledore's going to need your help and support. The Order of the Phoenix has about thirty members right now, and there's reason to believe that Voldemort could have double that amount in Death Eaters…especially considering we didn't even know about one of them." Sirius felt Remus' hand on his back, and he grinned, feeling much more confident. "My brother isn't even of age yet, so…"

"He's recruiting school children?" asked a woman in the back who reminded Sirius of Molly Weasley.

"Looks that way," said James. "So now we can add 'corrupting kids' to the list of Voldemort's crimes."

"But you're just children yourselves!" cried a gentleman in the front row. "Are all members of the Order of the Phoenix as young as you?"

The four of them nodded. "Well, except for Dumbledore and a few of the Hogwarts professors, I don't think there's anyone over thirty," said Lily, although she didn't sound too sure.

Remus shook his head. "Most of the Order is young, although we would never _dream_ of recruiting someone who's still at school. If the time comes when we may need your assistance, we encourage you to use your best judgment to decide who will fight for the cause."

The crowd finally stayed silent, which gave the four of them the opportunity to hand out fliers made by Dumbledore. Most people took fliers from James, Lily, and Remus…and they avoided Sirius. But at least they had stopped giving him accusatory looks. Sirius wondered if the people in this room were the right group to have given the message to. Maybe they should have gone to the Central Sky's Ministry building or something. Since nobody bothered to approach him with questions, Sirius snuck out of a side door and reached in his pocket for his lighter and a carton of cigarettes.

"They're secretly glad we came to them before the higher-ups. Makes them feel important," Remus whispered in Sirius' ear. Sirius let out a smoke-filled breath and slung his arm around his friend's shoulder.

"How are you always reading my mind?"

Remus chuckled and put his hand on top of Sirius' in an attempt to look comforting. "I _wish_ I could read your mind. Then I wouldn't have to wonder how you can look intelligent while acting like your mum dropped you on the head as a baby."

"Well I don't know if she dropped _me_, but I remember pretty vividly the day Kreacher dropped…_shit._" Sirius' cigarette fell out of his shaking fingers, and he shut his eyes tightly to avoid the tears he'd been trying to fend off.

Remus immediately had his arms around Sirius, and spoke to him in a soothing voice. "I'm not going to tell you to stop thinking about it, because I know there are things that _I'll_ never stop worrying about," Sirius let out a sigh and opened his eyes without tearing up. Remus continued, "But I'll bet you anything Lily might be able to help you cope. I mean, she's going through almost the same thing with Snape, whether Prongs likes it or not." Remus silently wondered if Lily would finally open up about her problem if she had someone who could relate.

Sirius finally spoke up. "Might I ask what _you _are always worrying about?"

"Aside from the obvious?"

"Oh! Jeez. Sorry." Sirius slapped his forehead, now feeling worse than he had before.

"You _should_ be sorry! It's quite a chore worrying about _you_ day in and day out!"

"What?"

Remus laughed heartily, which shook both of them as Remus' grip on Sirius tightened. "It's no surprise that I think about my friends more than I think about my lycanthropy! You should definitely know that by now," said Remus.

_Oh_, Sirius thought. _He worries about __**all **__of us. That makes sense…we're the ones who extended friendship to him when he really needed it, after all._

"And since Prongs has Lily, and I hardly ever see Wormtail, I only get the chance to worry about you." Remus gently let go of Sirius and took out his wand to clean up the cigarette Sirius had dropped. It was just like Remus to clean up something that hardly anybody bothered with.

Sirius couldn't figure out why his heart was suddenly pounding as he thought about Remus' words. Hadn't he thought that same exact thing not too long ago? Hadn't he decided that his goal in life was to be there for Remus because the man really had nobody else? Sirius sighed and lit another cigarette. "You still didn't answer my question, Moony."

"Hm?" Remus looked up at him with a questioning smile.

"How can you read my mind?"

Remus cracked a grin and said, "Isn't it obvious?" Sirius shook his head. "It's not that I'm reading your mind…it's more like I'm already thinking about it before your tiny brain can even process the thought."

Sirius furrowed his eyebrows in confusion rather than anger. "Er, what thought were we talking about again?"

"You were thinking that James Potter is a sexy beast," said a voice from behind Sirius, causing him to once again drop his cigarette. The dog Animagus spun around to face his friend, who'd just handed out his last flier for the Order. "My, my. Aren't we wasteful? Didn't I buy you those cigarettes?"

"I'll show you who's a beast!" cried Sirius. He pounced on James and the two began shamelessly wrestling in the middle of the sidewalk.

"Ugh," Lily groaned. "Our men are a bunch of oversized children."

Remus' face turned red. "Ugh. Please don't say such embarrassing things…" Lily chuckled at her friend's reaction, and she could have sworn she saw Sirius look over at them when she said it.

Just as James was about to perform a nose-picking hex on Sirius, Ralph rounded the corner and approached them. It was difficult to judge from his usual blank expression whether or not everything had gone well. Everyone fell silent when Ralph opened his mouth to speak.

"They took it well. You have nothing to worry about," said Ralph, trying his best to give them a smile. "Maya's inside talking to a few of those people from the front row…"

"Yeah, what was with those guys? They got the whole room started with their nonsense!" said Sirius, who was fixing his ruffled hair.

Ralph sighed. "I assume, since you are from Britain, that you are all familiar with the Wizengamot?" They nodded, although really they had no clue. Generally the only way someone could become "familiar" with the Wizengamot would be if they actually took part in a trial. It was well known that by default, all the members of the exclusive court system knew a great deal about the inner workings of the Ministry.

Ralph continued. "From what I could tell, every person who spoke out today has a tie to New York's Wizengamot. Also there seemed to be one or two journalists in the front row as well."

"I knew that group wasn't all regular citizens," said James. "Those tossers better not write anything too extravagant about us in the paper."

"I certainly hope they do," said Remus, causing everyone to turn their attention to him. Ralph probably would have agreed with Remus if he still hadn't been wary of the man who tried to hit on him. "The more publicity we get, the better."

Sirius drew in a breath. "But what if tomorrow's headlines read 'Albus Dumbledore sends emotionally disturbed brother of Death Eater to promote US-UK alliances'!"

Remus looked happy, for some reason. "Wow! Think of the amount of people who would read something like that!" he noticed the stares his friends were giving him. "What? Dumbledore wanted us to make sure the people here would remember our fight against Voldemort? It's like Sirius said in there—why should it matter who _we_ are? When the time comes for international aide, our abnormal speech will have stuck in their minds, and they'll remember all the things we told them about how horrible the other side is."

Ralph nodded and pointed to Maya, who was now skipping towards the group. "And Maya's got an in with the _Daily Sky_." This was received with some rather skeptical looks. "She writes a column," he clarified. Nothing more had to be said, as Maya's persuasion could possibly be ten times more effective than that speech had been.

* * *

DATE NEXT CHAPTER!

I can TOTALLY promise that the next chapter is cute and much more Remus and Sirius centric…because I'm pretty much almost done with it. Expect an update soon!!! In the mean time, please review, even if you agree with me that this chapter was total bollocks.


	7. I've Just Seen A Face

**Summary and Disclaimer:** see previous chapters

**Author's Note:** Yay for another chapter!! It's because of exam week that I'm writing so quickly . I can only write fic when I've got a boatload of other stuff to be doing.

Thank you for reviewing, I love you so much!!: **ProtegoNox, lanenk, sierra's scarlet, BLAHBLOT, Zobie91, remuslives23, dristi, Avahin, Akina Hasegawa, rekahneko, moonfoot13, **and** green9721**. Readers really brighten my day when you review. Also it's great to know what's working and what isn't. Also I have a question: is it okay that I put your names here on the top like this when you review?? Please don't get offended, but I might stop doing this next chapter because I've noticed that not a lot of people do it anymore. But I still love my readers and want you to let me know what you think!!

Chapter 7: I've Just Seen a Face

James Potter glanced at his pocket watch. Then he looked at the sky. Then his pocket watch. Then he concentrated on the sky again, just to make sure he was actually seeing what he thought he was seeing. His watch, which he _knew_ had magically adjusted to New York time, said 6pm. James tugged on Sirius' robes. "Oi, Padfoot!"

Sirius, who was busy watching Remus chat animatedly with Maya and Lily, gave James a look that clearly said he'd forgotten the other man was standing right next to him. "What's up, Prongs?"

A smirk tugged at the corners of James' mouth. "Stop checking out the ladies and tell me what you think of that sky," James pointed upward as he spoke.

"It's dark…wait, what time is it?" Sirius fumbled around in the pockets of his robes for his watch. "6pm? Why it is so dark?"

"As an underground settlement, we enjoy an extended night life." Ralph had been standing a small distance away from them since they'd left an extremely taxing meeting with some of Central Sky Ministry officials. He had claimed to be keeping a lookout for angry citizens, but the others had a notion that poor Ralph just didn't feel like he belonged with the group.

Maya laughed. "You guys gonna go on a pub-crawl tonight? Or clubbing? There's a really _far-out_ place over in Central Times Square."

"Brilliant!" shouted James, although he'd only guessed what the term 'far-out' meant. "Pads, where to first?"

Remus and Lily looked at each other nervously as they noticed James' eyes alight with eagerness. Neither of them wanted to waste their only night in New York watching the mischief brothers drink the whole city dry. "Er," began Remus, but Sirius interrupted him.

"We're not going clubbing tonight, you tosspot!" Lily giggled when she saw Remus' mouth drop to the floor. Sirius seemed to notice this too, because he was now smiling brightly at Remus. "Moony and I have plans anyway, right?"

"T-ten points for not ditching your date to go clubbing…" Remus stuttered, still in shock. "You're doing remarkably well, Sirius."

Sirius threw his head back haughtily. "You act like you're surprised! I'm good at everything, Moony. You know that."

Remus sighed. "You just lost those ten points." This set off a bombardment of questions from various members of the party.

"How many points did I have before that?"

"Are the points even relevant to what you guys are trying to accomplish?

"What the hell are you guys talking about?"

"What time does the sun rise in Central Sky? I mean, how are you supposed to get your daily amount of Vitamin D?"

"Li~ly! Can't we go clubbing?"

"…"

Sirius readied his wand for the treatment of his best friend's inevitable injuries.

MWPP

They felt significantly more welcome out in the city atmosphere instead of inside stuffy meeting rooms and noisy town halls. The group followed Maya and Ralph into what Maya explained to be "the cheapest Italian restaurant in all of New York." They decided not to ask her whether cheap meant "bad food" or if cheap meant "good deals". Lily was pleased to find that it was the latter.

None of them had been to an Italian restaurant together since Frank and Alice's engagement party, which had been around this time the previous summer. It was hard to forget Sirius' six consecutive failed attempts to do "the Lady and the Tramp thing" with various women…especially when all six attempts took place at the same party and with the same plate of spaghetti. James, Lily, Remus, and Peter had all silently agreed _never_ to let Sirius near Italian food again. But as there was no proper way to explain this to Maya and Ralph, they were forced to allow Sirius to enter the Italian restaurant.

Sitting down at the table proved to be tremendously awkward for one reason: only tables for two were available at such an hour of the evening.

"M-Maya, would you care to dine with me?" asked Ralph timidly. To everyone's great surprise, Maya blushed and nodded, letting Ralph take her hand and pull out the chair for her. Lily giggled as she watched the two of them. Sirius took note of the look on Lily's face—the one saying that because she was a woman, she always knew more than everybody else. Lily _constantly_ had that expression in full gear when she looked at Sirius. And now, of course, she was directing that attention at him once again.

He gulped. "We'll leave you boys alone," was all she had to say to get Sirius fuming. Who did Lily think she was, being a know-it-all and not sharing her knowledge with _him_? Sirius wondered whether Lily told James or Remus about the things she understood when she had that face fixed on people. A pang of jealousy washed over Sirius as he realized that Lily probably shared this knowledge with Remus alone.

"Padfoot?" Remus chuckled, grasping Sirius' shoulder. Sirius' previous emotions vanished. "Let's sit down, shall we? It's the perfect atmosphere to have our first date."

"Date!" Sirius cried, feeling himself panic. Why was he panicking? "Here? Now? But I thought you had something special planned!" Remus smiled and followed the waitress to a table for two only a couple feet away from James and Lily.

"I do," Remus finally answered once they were seated with menus in their hands. "But it's for _after_ dinner. When it gets dark."

"That sounds so _romantic!_" sighed Lily from the next table over.

Remus' face was beet red when he turned to face her. "You're just going to keep doing that, aren't you?"

She grinned. "Just payback, sweetie." She certainly hadn't forgotten about Remus listening in on her conversation with Molly. Plus, it was hilarious (and adorable, but she wasn't going to admit that in front of James) to see Remus blush.

"Don't call him 'sweetie'," said James defensively.

"Here we go…" Remus sighed. Thus, Lily and James began their classic argument over Lily's affections for Remus. Remus, on the other hand, stared directly into Sirius' eyes. "Just pretend those two don't exist."

Sirius laughed. "I'm pretty sure you were the one being bothered by them. But sure. I'll pretend they're just a cranky old married couple."

"FUCK YOU!" hollered James, which earned some nasty stares from an actual old couple enjoying their meal at a nearby table.

As Sirius watched the youthfulness glitter in Remus' eyes as he laughed, he went over some of the basic principles of dating in his head. Should he offer to pay for Remus' meal? Should he refrain from making the usual bawdy jokes that Remus only pretends not to like? Or should he…_yes_! The idea of the century just came to Sirius, and it made his lips curl in anticipation.

A god-sent idea, it was. Really brilliant! Why hadn't he thought of it before? He'd better get extra points for this one, as he really didn't like spaghetti all that much to begin with.

Sirius grinned and puffed out his chest as the waitress approached them to take their orders. Sirius was about to open his mouth and order them one large plate of spaghetti, when he noticed Remus giving him a stern look. He cocked his head to one side, but Remus was now looking at the waitress.

"Yes, I'll have the veal Parmesan, and a glass of Chianti," he told her, and then handed her his menu.

Sirius was so shocked that his plan had already failed, that he forgot to order something different. "Spaghetti with meatballs," he blurted out. Remus looked like he was going to laugh, but he held it back and ordered Sirius a glass of Chianti as well. Sirius thanked _Merlin_ the wizarding drinking age was the same in every country…but wait. There seemed to be something a little off about the situation that just took place. Sirius just couldn't put his finger on it.

After they'd silently finished half of the Italian bread, Sirius sighed and looked at his "date". "Er, I was going to…"

Remus didn't even let Sirius finish before starting to chuckle. "I _know_ what you were _going to do _by ordering us both spaghetti…and I saved you from making a huge mistake. Honestly, if your date had been anyone else but me, what would you have done when he found out you were trying to 'Lady and the Tramp' him?"

"The Lady and the Tramp thing is supposed to be romantic," he pouted. "And I wanted to order for you! I know for a fact that you love pasta anyway!"

"Padfoot, if you're already having problems with letting your date order first…then you've got a long way to go. We're not technically supposed to know each other that well yet."

Sirius glared at him. "If we're not supposed to know each other that well, than why did you stop me from ordering us the spaghetti for two?"

Remus rolled his eyes. "I couldn't help myself. Bringing you to an Italian restaurant is dangerous business."

"Okay new topic. So where are you taking me tonight?"

"Somewhere that's appropriate for a first date. Sort of a classic, if you will. But that's all…I'm not telling you anything else." Remus watched that adorable puppy-like pout appear on Sirius' face. He expected his friend to inquire further into this date, and he was surprised to find that Sirius wasn't quite talking as much as usual.

Instead, the taller man seemed to be watching him, and...no, he _couldn't_ be…Sirius Black was _thinking_ about what he was going to say before he said it! Obviously this posed problems for the poor bloke, who'd probably never thought about his choice of words before in his life. Remus felt sorry that he had to be the person testing Sirius in this fashion, and he almost wanted to sarcastically confront his friend about it. But he decided instead to be a good pretend boyfriend and to leave the relentless teasing to the Potters. Speaking of whom…James and Lily also seemed to be talking much less than usual, which could only mean that they were listening in on Remus and Sirius' first date—oh _Merlin_ that sounded weird. Fake or not, this was a **date** with **Sirius Black**, and it was only now causing Remus to shift uneasily in his seat. How was he going to keep Sirius at bay if he wasn't calm himself? Then Remus remembered that he'd ordered wine. He wasn't actually planning on drinking it, as sometimes he tended to embarrass himself with alcohol in his system, but now he was thinking otherwise. Would Sirius notice if he drank? Would it help Remus relax?

Although Remus welcomed the distraction, the waitress brought the food out in an irritatingly short amount of time. The downside of eating at a restaurant in an entirely wizarding settlement is that the food is prepared so quickly, it sort of takes away from the dining experience as a whole. _Honestly,_ thought Remus. _If we wanted fast food, we would have gone to the 'Magical McDonald's' across the street._

But at least the food they'd just been served _looked_ good. Remus took a moment to revel in the glorious sights and smells of veal Parmesan (because clearly, veal Parmesan is equal to an amusement park in Remus' mind). But when he glanced over at Sirius' spaghetti, he instantly wished he hadn't stopped his friend from ordering the meal for two. The meatballs looked much more delicious than his veal. They were _steaming_ while Remus' mouth was watering.

Sirius chuckled when he saw where Remus' attention was focused, but it was obvious he was trying to hold back on his usual bark-like laughter. "My dear Moony, am I allowed to make a joke?"

Remus shook himself out of his trance and gave the other man a funny look. "Well, yeah. Of course. If you hold back too much of your personality, your date is going to get some unwanted shocks later on in your relationship. Plus, jokes are a really nice ice-breaker on first dates, as long as they're in good taste." Remus took a rather large sip of the Chianti.

"But it's a dirty joke."

"Okay, well then you should probably try a cleaner one, at least on the first date…and _especially_ when you're at a romantic restaurant."

"But I don't know any clean jokes!" Sirius looked pained.

"Can _I_ tell the joke, then?" Remus whipped around to see a mischievous-looking James grinning at them. Without waiting for an answer… "Padfoot wants you to stop staring at his steamy balls," said James. Remus snorted.

"See! It would have made you laugh! Isn't that an important part of charming someone?" Sirius asked.

"Well, er," Remus was now blushing. "I wouldn't have laughed if _you'd_ told the joke. If I were actually your date, there's no way I'd know about your 'innuendo disorder'."

Sirius stayed quiet after this, but Remus could tell it was a pensive quiet rather than an awkward quiet. The only problem with this was that Sirius Black was known for his inability to multitask…and this sadly included thinking and eating at the same time. Remus watched as Sirius shoved some fringe out of his eyes and then looked as though he was _really_ concentrating on something.

"Er, what are you thinking about?" Remus asked, sliding forward in his seat to move closer to his friend. He took another sip of Chianti and his head felt a lot lighter.

"What?" replied the other man. Sirius then leaned to one side and stared at Lily. The face his friend was making confused Remus—it looked as though the man were studying something underneath an unfocused microscope. When he refused to sit straight again, Remus turned around to try and figure out what the heck Sirius was looking at so intently. Remus was now looking at Lily, who seemed to only just notice that her friends were staring in her direction.

While Remus and Lily exchanged looks of confusion, Sirius quickly slid his plate of spaghetti closer to Remus, and then swiftly moved Remus' own meal to the side of the table. When the confused werewolf turned back around, he shot Sirius a _"what the hell's wrong with you"_ look before grabbing his fork and absentmindedly digging into the food in front of him.

With a wave of his wand from underneath the table, Sirius levitated and extended one of the pieces of spaghetti that was headed for Remus' mouth. Sirius' own mouth closed over one end of the strand, and he thanked Merlin for Remus' inability to eat food without closing his eyes to savor it.

Remus knew something was odd when the piece of spaghetti he was sucking into his mouth didn't seem to have an end. Then, of course, he remembered that he wasn't even supposed to be eating spaghetti at all. When the werewolf opened his eyes, all he could see were glimmering pools of silver. Remus was frozen and fixated on Sirius' eyes for a few seconds, until suddenly their noses touched and the trance was broken.

"Augh! You mangy cur!" some of the spaghetti fell out of Remus' mouth.

"Ah, too true," was all Sirius could say once he'd finished the strand of spaghetti.

The restaurant staff had already been eyeing Remus and Sirius' table warily even before the outburst, so Remus decided not to continue verbally assaulting his date. See, Remus had _restraint_. Something he thought Sirius had finally attained until a moment ago. Plus the two sips of wine he had seemed to be producing the desired calming effects. "Sirius," Remus sounded stern, and Sirius tensed up.

_Shit_, the dark-haired man thought. _Moony's going to tell me off in front of the whole bloody restaurant. I guess I deserve it…_

"I get to eat this spaghetti now."

Sirius noticed the glint in Remus' eye that betrayed his stern face. "As you wish, Mr. Moony," he bowed his head slightly.

"Your politeness is not going to win back the million points you just lost."

"Fair enough," Sirius nodded. "But will it at least win me your food? I'm fucking starved."

Remus waved a meatball in front of his friend's face. "Aw, was a piece of spaghetti with my saliva on it not enough for the big, strong mutt?"

Sirius' eye would have twitched at the word 'mutt', if not for the sudden realization that he _had_ in fact eaten spaghetti that had been inside Remus' mouth. His face reddened. "Uh, er…"

"Here," Remus chuckled as he slid his veal Parmesan over to Sirius' side of the table.

"You should be a lot angrier with me," Sirius pointed out, regarding the smiling Remus with confusion.

The other man shrugged. "Well, I can guarantee that if I'd been a real date, I would have shot curses at you just like the birds you tried it on before. And that would've been the end of your date."

"But you're not a real date," Sirius sighed a little as he said this, his mind spinning a bit.

Remus' brow furrowed at his friend's odd expression. "Correct. But I probably should've taught you a lesson and stormed out."

"You're just staying for my steamy balls."

"Mmmmm," he responded as he popped a meatball into his mouth. "Precisely."

Sirius watched Remus eat. He watched the man's jaw move up and down while his adorable cheeks puffed out, and then he watched Remus' throat move as he swallowed. Sirius looked down at the veal Parmesan, and suddenly realized he'd never actually had this dish before. "It's just like a wolf to order a baby sheep from a menu."

"What!" Remus laughed hard for a few moments. "Oh Merlin, Pads. Veal comes from baby _cows_, you daftie!" Sirius heard a weird noise and leaned to one side just in time to see Lily covering her mouth and shaking with laughter. And James had apparently just snorted wine up his nose. Sirius gritted his teeth and debated cursing the Potters' tongues to their noses.

When he looked back at Remus, he noticed that his friend was smiling widely and shaking his head. "I don't know anybody else like you, Sirius Black."

"How do you mean?"

"Well, you're pretty funny when you're trying to be…and you're a riot when you're not."

Sirius felt his face burn at the…compliment? Sirius' emotions were all over the place as he tried to tuck into the veal. So much so, in fact, that he didn't notice Remus down his glass of wine rather quickly and then pour himself another one.

There was no explanation that Sirius could think of as to why he suddenly felt so odd. 'Dating' Remus was going to be fun—he could tell. It was going to be just like hanging out with his best mate, only now with a little bit of challenge involved. Nothing more and nothing less than a strengthening of friendship between the two Marauders. But then why was he feeling so _different_ as he watched his friend eat? Sirius had been fascinated by Remus' style of eating for years. This time should be no different.

Remus and Sirius chatted idly for the rest of the date, although Remus was strangely giggly and upbeat. Sirius would be lying if he said it didn't warm his heart a little to see his friend so happy.

"M-Moony…I'm gonna pay for yours, then."

"Don't be silly, you idiot. The meal's on Professor Dumbledore, remember?" but Remus was grinning. "Nice try though. And next time, you don't have to sound embarrassed about it. Be a man! Pay for the meal!"

"Do you act like the woman on all your dates?" Sirius blurted out without thinking. But Remus was in an insufferably good mood, and Sirius was loving it.

"Depends on what the date entails."

Sirius' face turned red. "Remus!"

"What?"

"I just learned something quite interesting about you."

"You shouldn't have let me drink alcohol. Minus ten points!" Remus was chuckling now as he handed to check and the money to their waitress, who was giving them some odd looks.

"You wanker! I wasn't supposed to know you that well, remember?"

Remus emptied a pouch full of Dumbledore's sickles onto the table as a tip. "Cussing at your date—minus fifteen points."

"Merlin! How many points did I start with?

"I think you started in the negatives, mate," interrupted James, who stood next to their table with an arm around Lily. Ralph and Maya appeared to be approaching from the other side of the room as well.

"Wow," said Lily. "If every date is going to be as hilarious your first, do you mind if I follow you blokes around?"

"Woah, this was your first date?" a shocked Maya asked. "I swear it looks like you guys have been boyfriends your whole lives!" Lily could have kissed Maya for making such an embarrassing comment. She grinned mischievously and turned to Remus, expecting to see him blushing and stammering like before.

Lily's mouth fell open. Remus was currently grinning and shaking his head. "I'm just here to teach him how to date like a normal human being." He slapped Sirius on the back. "Dating lessons, you know." _What?_ thought Lily. _A few hours ago he got defensive just from me calling James and Sirius 'our men'. Now he's acting like nothing embarrasses him anymore...oh. _As realization hit Lily like a ton of bricks, she wondered vaguely how differently Remus would act if he'd been drinking Firewhiskey or Scotch. She also wondered why Sirius didn't notice that his friend, who _never_ drank alcohol, had downed two glasses of wine in a rather short period of time.

"_That's_ why you keep mentioning 'lessons' and 'points' and stuff! I honestly thought it was just some sort of British lingo," Maya admitted. "Buy really, you do look very cute together."

Sirius couldn't help the smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth. He had no intention of making Remus his actual boyfriend…but it was certainly nice to know that he and his friend would pass as a legitimate couple in the eyes of the public.

MWPP

"Hey Padfoot?" Remus said as the group left the restaurant. They had just finished saying their goodbyes to Maya and Ralph for the evening. Their guides were going to drop the group's magically shrunken luggage off at the Sorcerer's Sky Hotel before returning to their own apartments.

"What's up?"

"I don't really want to be drunk for where we're going, so can we wait a little bit? It's only 7:30 anyway."

"Sure thing. Actually I have a little bit of shopping I need to do. Want to meet back here at 9?"

Remus looked at his watch. "No, meet me at Rockefeller Center. I'm going to go scope out Damocles Belby's house so that I'm not so rushed when I go tomorrow morning." Sirius laughed, causing Remus to look a bit annoyed. "Why are you laughing? This is a pretty important thing for me."

Sirius shook his head. "I'm laughing because you just told me you were going to wander around Central Sky City _drunk_, without knowing where you're going."

"Oh this City's not that big, and I've got a good sense of direction you know."

Sirius decided not to question Remus' werewolf senses, so he bid his friend farewell and started off down the now crowded sidewalk toward some interesting-looking shops. They'd been right in assuming that Central Sky was beautiful at night—it sparkled magnificently just like the real New York City above.

After spending a pocketful of galleons on motorcycle equipment, he walked back out into the crowd only to find flying carpets whiz by a few meters above him. He took out his wand and spent a good ten minutes angrily creating a barrier charm over his head.

"Can you cast one of those over me too?" asked a women from behind him. Sirius turned around and came face-to-face with Lily.

"They're _dangerous_, aren't they? I feel like one of them is going to run into my head!" Sirius said as he waved his wand over he head. "Haven't these people heard of brooms?" A couple of 'those people' gave Sirius the finger as they walked by.

"I totally agree, very dangerous," said Lily. "They might as well be riding flying motorcycles!"

He glared at her, but amusement danced in both their eyes. "Where'd you leave Mr. Potter?"

"Oh, I told him he could visit a few bars. I'm not really the bitch you all think I am."

Sirius smiled. "Certainly not. So he knows you're with me then?"

She nodded. "The choices I gave him were for me to wander around the city alone, enjoy a lovely evening with a drunk Remus, or tag along with you."

"Oh wow. I can't believe I was his obvious choice for once."

"Have we ever spent time alone before?" she asked him as they linked arms and began wandering in the direction of Central Times Square.

"No, but actually this might be a good thing."

"Might be?" but Lily had learned never to take offense by what Sirius Black said.

"I need to talk to you about something kind of important, but it's probably not something you want to talk about right now."

Lily gave him a searching look before she spoke. "You're right. I don't want to talk about it right now. Or ever." Sirius' heart sank. "But I think I can make an exception given your situation."

Sirius was surprised. "No that's okay. We're on a trip, and I don't want to make you upset."

Lily thought for a moment. "I can still give you advice without actually talking about it, you know."

The dark-haired man sighed. Remus told him Lily was a good person to talk to, and he was going to believe in Remus 100%. "I honestly thought Regulus was smarter than this."

She squeezed his arm. "I don't think it's a question of intelligence or common sense. Doesn't it have to do with the people you associate with? Just think about if _you'd_ been put in Slytherin? Your mindset would have been exactly the same as his."

"I'd like to think I would never stoop so low, but then again…he and I had the exact same upbringing."

"Peer pressure is a real thing, no matter how independent we think we are," she told him and he nodded. And then he proceeded to tell her everything. Everything from his fears about Regulus to the anger that welled up inside him when he thought about how happy his brother was making his parents. He talked and talked without realizing the fashion stores and souvenir shops he was following Lily into. With every pause that Sirius took, Lily added a line that more or less could have been applied to her former friendship with Snape. By the end of their discussion, Sirius suddenly realized he'd bought a good 15 galleons worth of accessories for Lily.

"I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist," she admitted. "Do you still have enough to spend on your boyfriend?"

Sirius fished around in his pockets. "Yeah—I mean…no! He's not actually my boyfriend. We're just going on a date as friends, yeah?" he looked at his watch and noticed that it was now 8:55. "Shit! I've gotta get to Rockefeller Center for the date!"

"Okay, we're only a block away. But do you feel better now that you've talked over things with me?"

"No, right now I feel kind of anxious."

"Not about your brother, though."

Sirius tried to will his pounding heart down to a regular beat. "No. I feel anxious about…"

Sirius' heart suddenly stopped beating all together when he neared Rockefeller Center. A beautifully lit outdoor ice-skating rink glittered before his eyes, a golden statue of Merlin featured prominently behind it. The scene reminded him of Christmas, contrasting greatly with the warm summer breeze he felt against his skin. But what had _really _stopped his heart was Remus. The man's face was as bright as the sun as he stood at the entrance to the shimmering ice rink, grinning broadly and holding an ice skate in each hand.

"Oh, how lovely!" cried Lily. "They cast cooling charms over the whole rink!" But Sirius hadn't heard her. He bounded toward Remus and scooped his friend up into a bear hug. Lily giggled.

Remus and Sirius were now grinning at each other. "Remember when you said you wanted to skate without the threat of the Giant Squid breaking through the ice and eating you alive?" Remus said once Sirius was finished squashing him. The taller man nodded his head. "I guess that's about to change then."

"Remember when you said we weren't real boyfriends…"

They both laughed. "You'd better not screw up such a basic first date. Otherwise you'll never win someone over." Sirius shook his head and followed his friend to the skate-rental area.

Lily stood close by to observe their encounter, and couldn't help the blush that formed on her cheeks when she thought about what was happening between them. _Honestly, how is Sirius supposed to learn how to 'win someone over' when he's currently being captivated himself? _She wondered how long this charade was going to last. Lily turned around and left to find James, suddenly in the mood for a little romance.

* * *

Please review!


	8. Mr Moonlight

**A/N: **Extra-long chapter because I haven't updated in a while. Been watching soaps…but that should be no excuse.

Chapter Eight: Mr. Moonlight

James Potter was only twenty years old. He'd never gone out to bars without friends before, and he'd certainly never explored a city at night alone. His parents had been with him when he'd traveled to Rome and Vienna, and his friends had always been right by his side in Hogsmeade. James sat uncomfortably on a barstool in one of the exotic bars Maya had suggested, but he could only get through a few sips of beer before beginning to miss his friends…and most importantly his wife.

Fortunately for him, the city was not that big for a supposed replica of Manhattan, and his beautiful wife was standing only a few blocks away when he exited the bar. "Oi!"

When she saw him, she smiled and waved happily before running to meet him. Before he could ask her why in the hell Sirius would ditch her in the middle of a city, she had her arms around him and her nose in his neck. "Er, I love you too, Lils."

She snorted into his shirt collar and toyed with the hair at the nape of his neck. "Let's get a drink and head over to the hotel."

James smirked. "I'm certainly not going to complain about this sudden eagerness, but we're sharing a room with Remus and Sirius you know."

"Oh _they_ won't be back for a while."

James furrowed his eyebrows and looked into Lily's sparkling green eyes. With the city lights reflected in them, it was almost like they were dancing. "Oh Merlin, what are they up to?"

"Ice-skating," she sighed.

"Ice-skating? Are you sure that's going to take as long as you think?" James looked at his watch.

Lily shrugged. "They might get caught up in a moment or two."

MWPP

Sirius' heart was beating too fast for him to think of anything else. What had he done to suddenly deserve this? He took a few deep breaths and swallowed as he pulled on the rental ice-skates Remus had handed him. Remus knew his shoe size, of course. Remus always knew.

It's not that Sirius was scared about skating. He'd done it back in second year on the frozen lake at Hogwarts, although he had been forced to give himself a lightening charm so as to not disturb the Giant Squid. James, Remus, and Peter had stood at the edge of the lake as lookouts, only to completely **fail** when Sirius ended up falling partially through the ice. Actually now that he mentioned it…

"Moony, do you know how to ice-skate?"

Remus was currently using his wand to tighten and tie his own skates. "Oh course I know how. My mum and dad took me to muggle rinks. I've seen _loads_ of professionals."

Sirius was jealous for only a second, but then an opportunity caught him. "Could you teach me?" he asked, throwing all the manly dignity he probably never had out the window.

Remus looked at his friend and smiled. "Now who's the one being the woman on this date?"

"Hey! I was just trying to get some points! I'm in the negatives here, in case you forgot!"

Remus began laughing as the two of them slid awkwardly over to rink's entrance. "Maybe a reasonable time to end the lessons is when you've finally gotten points in the positive."

"Augh! Moony!" But Sirius couldn't catch him. His friend and been let loose on the ice, speeding around the outside of the rink and chuckling as he left Sirius in the dust. Sirius steadied himself on the railing and then proceeded to gently glide across the ice. His balance gave out immediately, and he was forced to clutch the railing like a toddler.

By this point, Remus had done a full loop around the rink. Only about a dozen other people were occupying the ice rink, but they seemed to all be focusing their attention on Remus, who zipped by them determinedly. He only slowed when he reached Sirius' side.

"Umm…" said Sirius, painstakingly trying to not fall on his bum. "You didn't learn to skate by watching those muggle hooky players_,_ by any chance?" Remus snorted, but decided not to chastise his friend for butchering the muggle language anymore. It wasn't worth it with purebloods, no matter how much they said they wanted to appreciate muggles.

"Did you think I meant figure skaters?" Remus asked, although he was far from offended. Sirius threw his head back and laughed, which jostled him off balance. Remus grabbed his friend by the shoulders. "Why do you always talk about going ice-skating if you've never actually done it?"

"Would you believe me if I told you I actually wanted someone to teach me?" Sirius's face was red, and Remus smirked.

"Well then, I guess I will once again show you how to treat someone on a date." Remus held out his arm to the distressed Marauder, who latched onto it firmly. Sirius grinned and couldn't help himself—he just _had_ to tickle Remus under the arm, even if it meant that both men tumbled to the frozen ground within seconds. They laughed, skates sliding every which way as they struggled to stand back up. One mirthful look into each other's eyes said that it was okay to invade personal spaces in order to regain footing. Sirius wasn't sure how he managed to stand up while Remus' arms were around his waist, but moments later they were in a semi-comfortable skating position.

A few comfortable silences later, "So…do you hide this personality from the people you actually date?" Remus looked up into his friend's determined face as he asked the question.

"What personality?" Sirius was gripping onto Remus' arm to make damn sure he wasn't going to fall over again. Not that he would mind it if the outcome was the same.

Remus watched in silence as Sirius gained enough bearings to only have to hold Remus' hand. Without realizing it, the two had automatically laced their fingers together. Cool air from the ice chilled their legs a bit, but otherwise they felt surprisingly warm. Remus moved as slow as he could while Sirius inched across the ice. It was odd, to Remus at least, to see a man who could ride broomsticks and flying motorbikes—an _Auror_ in training—having such difficulty balancing on ice.

He wondered, fleetingly, whether Sirius might be leading him on a bit. Maybe the man was actually very good at ice-skating and he was only pretending to be terrible for the sake of the date. But that couldn't possibly be right, because Remus had made the skating a surprise.

"This hidden cuteness you have. I don't understand why you don't show it to the blokes you date. From what I've seen of what you call dates, you act like a total prat. But…you'd have them wrapped around your finger with all this talk of 'I want someone to teach me'."

Sirius gave him a quick confused look before concentrating on his balance again. "What are you talking about? If you're admitting that I've got you wrapped around my finger, then I totally just won this whole bloody game."

"No!" Remus' face turned red. "I was just saying that you should always let your real personality shine through when you're on a date. You're doing a good job so far. Somehow, in the back of my mind, I can see how you would act like this on an ice rink. Reminds me of your hilarious panic attack on the flying carpet."

"Is that a compliment? Because you know I can't tell when you're complimenting me because you always sound like you're making fun of me."

"Well I guess that's just _my_ personality."

Sirius sighed as he glided across the ice. "Don't ever change."

Remus smiled at Sirius again. Even if they hadn't been "dating", he would have asked Sirius to come with him to the wizarding Rockefeller ice rink. He could sense that Sirius enjoyed his company a lot, and that made Remus feel special…almost like he had a brother, a best friend, and an entire family all in one. The thought of it made Remus tingle a bit, and it had nothing to do with the decrease in temperature.

However he'd be lying if he said he didn't notice some of the other wizards and witches on the rink giving him and Sirius the "we're not quite comfortable watching gay couples hold hands" look. But Remus was still happy knowing that they were just friends. Good friends…because only people as close to one another as Remus and Sirius could pull off something like dating without having to worry about it being awkward. At least that's what Remus hoped anyway.

"Moooony! Let me go for a sec. I'm pretty sure I've got this skating business down!"

"Have you?" Remus let go of Sirius' hand and watched as his friend took the skating equivalent of baby steps across the rink. "Wow! I'm so proud of my little Padfo—" Sirius wobbled dangerously. It must have been Remus' keen senses mixed with his werewolf speed that got him to Sirius before the fall. Of course, speed does seem to have the disadvantage of causing quite an impact.

If people hadn't been staring before, they certainly were now. Even the people watching from outside the rink were suddenly interested in the position the two gay wizards were now in. Sirius, for the most part, was perfectly all right. A certain someone broke most of his fall…and that someone currently had his back flat against the ice with one leg directly under Sirius' body. Thankfully, nothing felt too painful to Remus at the moment…except possibly his dignity. But dignity could wait when Sirius Black was rolling over on the ice and leaning over your face. Remus' cheeks felt surprisingly warm for someone who was currently lying on a floor made of ice. Sirius' wide, gray eyes caught Remus off guard for a few seconds, but of course good things never last.

Sirius' long, black hair fell into Remus' mouth. "Augh! Pbfft…you git!"

"I assume since you're already rolling your eyes at me, you're alright?"

Remus was _going_ to snap at Sirius. But to be fair, the man did look concerned. And he was still leaning over Remus, making it very difficult to concentrate on being mad. "I'm fine. I think I just got the wind knocked out of me. You're heavier than you look."

"And _you're_ more comfortable to sit on than you look."

"Don't get any ideas you tart," said Remus, straining himself to stand back up. Sirius did the same, and then stood in the middle of the ice with his wand out to heal a bruise that was already forming on his shoulder.

"What? About sitting on you? Jeez, Remus what are you planning on making me do in this relationship that might tempt me to sit on you?"

A family glided past just as Sirius said those words, and Remus rolled his eyes again. But then, suddenly, he realized what Sirius had just said. "We're in a relationship?"

Sirius gave Remus a very direct 'are you serious?' look before grasping his hand and entwining their fingers. "Yeah well I figured since we're going to be dating for the next couple months…like, steadily and whatnot…that means we're in a relationship, yeah?"

The other man looked at Sirius, stunned out of his mind. "I, er…" he stuttered. Now _Remus'_ heart was beating fast. He never expected Sirius to be so calm when talking about a relationship, even if it was just a fake one.

"I told you when we started this whole thing. I want to be in love with someone," said Sirius. "I want a committed, romantic relationship, and you're going to help me. We're not playing around here, or at least I'm not playing around."

"I-I never said I was playing around either. I just didn't think you'd take something like this so seriously." Without realizing it, Remus and Sirius had stopped skating and were now leaning over the railing.

"Well you said you'd teach me how to be with someone, so I'm pretty much following your lead. And, uh, _you_ seem to be taking it just as seriously as I am," Sirius pointed out.

"Wow," Remus said in awe. "I totally believe that you're taking this seriously."

"Because I look so sincere and determined?"

"No. Because we've mentioned the word 'seriously' three times in the last minute and you haven't made a single joke." They both laughed and Remus gently bumped hips with Sirius. He didn't want to do anything too affectionate, especially with all these wizarding families watching.

The two eventually got back to skating, although both were a little off in their balance and techniques. Hearts were beating at irregular paces and heads were spinning. It was good, though, to have a moment like this. Only with Sirius, Remus decided, could he be totally embarrassed, flustered, and helpless…and somehow feel completely comfortable at the same time. He loved this bizarre emotion. It reminded him so much of why he was friends with Sirius in the first place…

"_Oi, lads!" James and Peter scurried down to the Hogwarts Lake once they heard Sirius' shouts. Remus walked at a much slower pace, furrowing his eyebrows at the dark haired boy who was currently waving his arms around like a barmy lunatic. Remus couldn't quite tell what was going on from this distance, but somehow he could guess that by the time he arrived on the scene, Sirius would already be doing something stupid and potentially dangerous._

_He was right, of course. Sirius was sitting on the snow bank next to the lake, grinning from ear to ear as he transfigured blades to the bottom of his school shoes. The boy looked up and frowned once he saw Remus standing a few feet away. "Oh, hey Lupin. Um, please don't tell the Prefects, okay?"_

_Remus nodded. "I won't tell." He wasn't the kind of person to scold his fellow Gryffindor. Plus, Sirius, James, and Peter had all figured out his 'secret' only a few weeks ago. He wasn't about to tattletale on someone who might turn around and tell the whole school about his lycanthropy._

"_Thanks! Watch my back then, gentlemen!" and with that, Sirius stood up, enchanted himself with a few spells, and slid out onto the frozen lake. James cheered from the edge and Peter stood behind him, not wanting to get too close to the danger. At least Peter had some sense, Remus thought._

_Remus decided he wasn't going to watch this act of idiocy. In fact, he sort of hoped that the Giant Squid (who was completely harmless—Remus could always tell those things about magical creatures) would play around with Sirius a bit. Maybe try to snap at him from under the ice or something—_

_CRACK!_

"_Shit!"_

_The werewolf turned around in panic just in time to see Sirius' right leg fall completely through the ice. Remus' heart stopped as he watched his schoolmate's body sink lower into the lake until most of the lower half of his body was submerged under the broken ice. "James help!"_

_But James Potter and Peter Pettigrew didn't actually have their wands with them, having just come from James' Quidditch practice. Remus, who hadn't quite gotten used to the idea of using a wand in a time of danger, fled as fast as his little second year legs could carry him. He was so scared; he completely forgot that calling for a professor was probably going to make the other boys tell his secret in revenge._

_Ten terrifying minutes later, Minerva McGonagall had Sirius lying on his back just inside the castle as she performed emergency heating charms on his frozen legs. James and Peter watched in horror as the school Healer, Madame Pomfrey, arrived with a levitating stretcher. Remus, with his heart trying to escape from his chest, ran ahead of Pomfrey and waited out in the hospital wing to prepare himself for the inevitable confrontation with Sirius._

"_I'm sorry I had to tell a professor!" Remus cried as he stood next to the recuperating Sirius' bed. It had only taken Madame Pomfrey ten minutes to fully heal the lower half of Sirius' body. James and Peter kept their distance, sensing that Remus needed to talk to Sirius urgently._

_Sirius gave Remus an odd look, but smiled. "What are you sorry about, mate? McGonagall and Pomfrey just saved me from turning into a giant block of ice, all thanks to you…" but Remus was crying. "What the bloody hell are you crying for?"_

"_Don't tell my secret!" he gasped. "Please don't tell anyone! I promise I won't rat you out again!" Sirius was shocked to hear such a loud and upset tone come out of such a small boy's mouth. The poor boy was shaking more than he was…and Sirius was the one who'd been half frozen!_

"_Hey, hey," Sirius leaned over in the bed and wrapped his arms around his panicking schoolmate. He shot James and Peter a disconcerted look and they shrugged. "Now listen…Remus. Is it okay if I call you Remus?" the tawny haired boy nodded, suddenly not feeling so miserable anymore. "I'm your friend, and your furry little problem isn't making me think any less of you."_

"_Us too!" added James, and Peter nodded. Remus smiled wearily in their direction._

"_Plus I'm not going to be all Slytherin-like and think that the only way to solve my problems is revenge. You could tell on me to a teacher a million-billion times and I'd still never tell a soul about you. It's just waaay too cool a secret to let anyone else know."_

_Remus snorted in between sobs. "Okay." He really didn't know what else to say. Everything felt better just as quick as they had previously gotten worse. Sirius thought he was 'waaay cool', even after he just cried in front of everyone. _Magic_, Remus decided. This right here was going to be a magical friendship, no matter how cheesy that sounded._

"Moony? You with me?" Sirius almost knocked Remus over trying to get him out of his daze.

Remus shook his head and looked up at him. "Yeah," he said. "I'm with you."

"Want to head to the hotel and call it a night?"

"Sirius!" Remus exclaimed in mock surprise. "Are you asking me to go with you to a _hotel_ on the first date?"

Sirius grinned and positioned his hand on the small of Remus' back. "Mmmm. You bet I am."

Remus laughed. "Ooh you're _so_ going to lose points for this!"

"And yet you're not protesting."

"Wouldn't want Professor Dumbledore's galleons to go to waste, would we?"

"I'll bet you anything James and Lily sure aren't!" said Sirius. It took them both a few moments to comprehend that statement before a loud "EEEWWWW!" was in order. An older couple a few meters away scoffed at them as they left the skating rink, Sirius' hand still suggestively placed on Remus' back. How either of them kept their balance like that, only Merlin knows.

MWPP

The Sorcerer's Sky Hotel was pretty average and resembled a country club more than an actual hotel, even with its skyscraper design. None of them had ever stayed in a wizarding hotel before, but Remus assumed that it wasn't exactly top class when they were not offered help in transporting and resizing their luggage. Dumbledore didn't have _that_ much money to spend on this trip. And at least their stay would be nicer than Remus' old apartment…or Sirius' disgusting one for that matter.

Sirius followed Remus to their room on the sixth floor, and almost bumped into him when Remus made a full stop in front of the door. "What's up, Rem?" he asked, noting the concerned look on his friend's face.

Remus grinned awkwardly and said, "James and Lily…what if they're…you know…" Sirius scowled and pulled out his pocket watch. 11 PM. They could very well still be up enjoying themselves.

"Are you saying we should knock? I'm pretty tired, so at this point I don't care if they're chained to the beds and wrapped in leather…my bed's in there too."

"What?" Remus pulled the key to the room out of his pocket. "They like that stuff?"

"Umm, well you never know, right?" Remus gave him a 'you say the weirdest things' face before unlocking the door. From what he could see, the lights were off in the room—which could mean anything. But when he didn't hear any sound, he tiptoed in with Sirius following close behind.

Upon entering the main area of the room, it was plain to see that their predicament was not going to be walking in on the Potters making love. "Ugh!" moaned Remus, and Sirius quickly shushed him. James and Lily were sleeping in the same bed, curled up with one another displaying peaceful looks on their faces. Normally this would not have been such a bad thing, but apparently Dumbledore had forgotten to mention that there were only two beds in the room.

"I-I'm going to get ready for bed," Sirius whispered, hoping that once he emerged from the bathroom, the problem would be magically fixed. Remus nodded and opened his suitcase to find his nightclothes. He peeked at James and Lily to make sure they were asleep before quickly changing his clothes. Sirius walked back into the room just as Remus was laying out his clothes for tomorrow.

"I would call you obsessive compulsive or perfectionist," said Sirius, watching as Remus neatly organized everyone's luggage, "but I'm a little too nostalgic to say anything right now."

"Aww poor Padfoot. Did you really miss living with me that much?"

Sirius gazed deeply into Remus' eyes, trying to decipher if Remus was joking or being serious. Because he _did_ miss living with Remus…probably more than he missed living with James. He and James were like brothers after all, and brothers are usually better off living apart. But Remus was like…well he didn't _know_ what Remus was like, exactly. Remus was Remus, a separate category that Sirius couldn't put his finger on. "There's no way I could miss living with you," Sirius chuckled lightly so as to not wake the happy couple on the other side of the room. "When you organize my things I can't bloody find anything."

"Oh you know you love it," said Remus before disappearing into the bathroom. Sirius smiled.

Ten minutes later, Remus and Sirius stood on opposite sides of the non-occupied bed, looking strikingly similar to the odd couples seen in muggle films. "Are we really going to do this?" Remus whispered. He felt oddly nervous. Sleeping in the same bed was not something he'd ever done with Sirius. Especially not after both of them had come out in sixth year. "I could sleep on the…" he looked over at the wicker chair in the corner of the room. "_You_ could sleep on the chair."

Sirius grabbed a pillow and tossed it at Remus. "How about _you_ sleep in the bathtub!" he laughed.

"Shhh! You don't want to wake up Mr. and Mrs. Chucklehead over there, do you?"

"Actually," Sirius rubbed his chin. "I wouldn't mind if they woke up. I'd get the chance to kick them out of that bed, wouldn't I?"

"Oh come off it. It's not _their_ fault we got a room with two beds. And what were we going to do if they hadn't claimed one of them first? Make _them_ sleep in the bathtub?"

Sirius ran his fingers through his hair in a frustrated manner. "No, you're right. But honestly I'm sick of this talking. Let's just get into bed, fall asleep, and put it out of our minds. Mates sleep in the same bed all the time."

"Heh." Remus shook his head. "When was the last time a 'mate' slept in your bed without some sort of romantic tryst involved?"

"Hey, now you know that's not what I want anymore. Look, I'll sleep on the chair if that's what you want."

Remus shook his head, lied down on the bed, and pulled the covers over himself. "Don't be an idiot. You won't get any sleep on that chair, but your bum certainly will."

The other man snorted and climbed into the bed next to Remus. "You're not going to be here when I wake up, correct?"

Remus nodded. "I'll be off to see this Dr. Damocles Belby fellow before we have to head back."

"You sure you don't need your trusty seeing-eye dog with you?"

Remus grinned and closed his eyes. "His flat is only a few blocks from here."

"Oookay," Sirius yawned, but didn't close his eyes. Instead, he focused in on Remus' face, illuminated by the moonlight coming in through the window. Sirius watched as Remus' eyes scrunched up when he yawned and a piece of light brown hair fell in front of his face.

Sirius hardly thought twice about how odd it was that the moon would be shining through the window of an underground hotel. He was temporarily preoccupied...stunned by the way Remus looked lying next to him, the lines on his face almost _glowing_. Sirius clutched his chest in an attempt to slow his pounding heart. He'd seen _so many_ blokes lying opposite him in a bed, in various states of pre and post-coital disarray. Of course Remus was not pre or post-anything right now, and Sirius wasn't about to start thinking of his best mate that way. Not after all the help Remus was giving him. But it was just so ironic how a little bit of moonlight could make a werewolf look so wonderful.

"What?"

Sirius almost had a heart attack. He'd been so busy looking at Remus' face; he totally hadn't realized that the man had opened his eyes. "Sorry, mate. I just can't help feeling a little captivated by you," Sirius admitted.

"What?" Remus chuckled disbelievingly. "You fancy me?"

"No! No…it's not like that. You just make me feel better about things, you know? I take one look at you and think 'oh _Merlin,_ Remus and I are going to be best mates forever'." Sirius cringed at how rushed and unsophisticated those words had sounded. Wait…since when had be cared what words came out of his mouth?

Remus shook his head. "Well that's all very sweet, but I still have no idea what you mean by it. Wouldn't you say the same about James?"

"Umm, I don't know. I guess so, yeah." Sirius flipped over to face the other direction out of slight embarrassment. A few awkwardly silent minutes passed, during which Sirius prayed to Merlin that Remus would fall asleep quickly.

"Hey Padfoot?" No such luck.

"Y-yeah?"

"I'm proud of how you handled yourself at the conference today."

"T-thanks." Sirius was glad he now faced the other direction because his face was burning.

…

"Hey Moony?"

"Yeah?" Remus mumbled drowsily.

"Today was a good first date."

"I agree."

MWPP

Remus was a horrendous morning person. He kicked, he screamed, and he bitched at anyone and anything within a five-kilometer radius. But he still had to get up excruciatingly early _this_ particular morning, which was good practice for when he had to be cooking breakfast for James and Lily.

Remus felt proud of himself for not waking up the entire city when he tripped over Sirius' leather jacket in front of the bathroom door. While he made sure to keep his mouth shut, Remus couldn't keep from glaring at his slumbering friend.

The morning flying carpet commute and the immensely bright fake sunlight woke Remus up pretty quickly. It reminded him of those dreary January days back at Hogwarts when Dumbledore thought it would be fun to keep everyone's spirits up by blasting fake sunrays into the Great Hall. The island music he blared sometimes made it difficult to do last minute homework at the breakfast table.

A couple of blokes in long, rainbow-colored robes waltzed animated down the street next to Remus. "Dumbledore would love this place," he said to himself. He wondered, vaguely, if the Headmaster made frequent visits to America. But then again, why would he send a bunch of kids over to gain allies if Dumbledore could just go himself?

Damocles Belby's flat was not too difficult to walk to. Remus hoped he'd be awake by—he glanced at his pocket watch—six in the morning. _Damnit_, he thought. _Why couldn't we have scheduled the return Portkey for a later time?_ He figured that 8 in the morning was the only International Portkey Dumbledore could get them, so he decided it wasn't worth fussing over. Besides, he needed to calm himself down. He didn't want Damocles Belby thinking he was a cranky and spiteful person. Remus tried to smile before knocking on the door.

A few moments later, a thin, boyish man stood in front of him. He beamed brightly at Remus, who was astonished to find someone this awake-looking at such an ungodly hour. "Why hello!"

"Um, good morning. Are you Damocles Belby, the potioneer?"

"Are you English?!" Belby was practically hopping up and down. He stepped out into the sunlight to reveal sparkling orange robes, shiny blonde hair, and skin that would have made Lucius Malfoy look tan. The man was quite a sight to behold. Remus was suddenly very glad this person worked with werewolves instead of vampires, as surely the latter would melt in his presence.

"I'm from London, yeah. The name's Remus Lupin." Remus was trying very hard not to squint, and it had nothing to do with the sun.

Belby gasped. "Do you want some tea? I could get you some tea!"

"Oh, um, yes. Tea would be lovely." Maybe some tea would get rid of the headache Remus could feel spreading above his eyes.

He invited Remus into his flat, which sparkled from top to bottom. He tried his best to look down at his shoes as much as possible, otherwise he'd be forced to try and decipher exactly how wallpaper, ceiling fans, and couches could all glitter like disco balls.

Thankfully, Belby asked him to take a seat at safely wooden coffee table. "So, my boy! What brings you here?" He handed his guest some tea and then focused his youthful blue eyes directly into Remus'.

Remus wondered why someone who looked relatively similar in age to him would be calling him 'my boy', but then he remembered that Belby had graduated years ahead of Remus' first year at Hogwarts. That would make him, what, in his early thirties perhaps? "Well," Remus began, "I saw your flier for the Wolfsbane potion and—"

"—No not _here_ here. I mean to America! The U.S.A! The States! And the Big Apple! You came all the way from—"

"—You haven't heard about the town meeting we held to try and recruit allies? You must have heard about it. It caused a mild ruckus, at best. Actually I'm surprised someone like you wasn't there." Remus immediately regretted the words that came out of his mouth. But really he couldn't help what he said at six in the morning. He would probably curse out even Dumbledore at this hour.

But Belby was laughing, for some reason, and his eyes sparkled. "Oh of course I was there." Remus was visibly surprised. How could he not have seen someone who dressed like this guy? "And I'm glad I was there to hear your little werewolf speech. Brought tears to my eyes, no joke. Put me right back at Hogwarts, listening to you fellows. Does ol' Sluggy still teach? I was one of the first Slug Club members, did you know?"

Remus didn't care to answer Belby's lighter questions. "I guess the fact that you didn't know who I was when I came to the door was a _joke_?"

Belby grinned and nodded, the sparkle was completely gone from his eyes. "I can't say I haven't been expecting you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Remus suddenly felt like he should be on guard.

"I knew from the moment you announced that you were a werewolf that you'd seen my flier. And judging from the fact that you're sitting in my living room, I would have to say the flier serves its purpose."

Remus shot Belby a suspicious look. "The flier said you were looking for Wolfsbane testers. Isn't that the purpose?"

Belby tried to put on an excited face, but it seemed a little forced. "Oh, I would love it if someone were to come here to test out my potion! That would make it a thousand times easier to get approval from the Legal Potions Branch. I recon I'll be awarded the Order of Merlin..."

"Not in Britain you won't."

"Oh come now, my boy! You can't act like that! If you all give up hope over there, nothing's going to get better!"

"I'm sorry to says this, _Doctor_, but can you honestly say that all the werewolves over here in the States feel completely free? Don't you think they can feel the impending war causing strain on them as well?" Remus hadn't realized he'd stood up from his seat. Belby motioned for him to sit down, and Remus surprised himself by not obliging. "Wait. What's the _real_ reason for your flier?"

"If that look in your eyes means you think I'm your enemy, then you're probably right," said Belby.

"What?"

Belby's face was stern and serious now, and Remus could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Belby continued to speak; only his words seemed to have more force. "Werewolves come here from all over, Mr. Lupin, and most of them couldn't care less about the Wolfsbane potion."

_Now_ Remus was intrigued. If this guy was some sort of activist, how could Remus not have heard about him? Dumbledore, at least, should know about Damocles Belby. Unless... "You came to America to hide, didn't you?"

"Oh I can assure you that I am not hiding. I'm merely offering a friendly ear to werewolves in a city that gives me quite a bit of freedom. I help them hide, find jobs, and learn how to cope with daily life…but I also help some form packs and learn how to hunt. It's all up to the individual, really."

"You teach werewolves to _hunt_?!" Remus was appalled, and took a few large steps away from the coffee table.

"Please, please calm down. See, this is why I told you that you would probably think of me as your enemy. I'm not looked upon too favorably by activist werewolves, as you can see."

"Obviously!" hollered Remus. Threw his fingers into his hair and tried to steady his breathing. How could he have gone from enjoying an enchanting date with Sirius to having tea with someone who helps werewolves find prey?

"Mr. Lupin, please get a hold of yourself. You do agree with me that werewolves should be thought of as individual people with just as many rights as the rest of the wizarding society, don't you?"

"Agree?! How could someone like _you_ have that opinion when you're setting werewolves loose to do whatever the hell they please?!"

"Isn't that what freedom means?" Belby raised his voice to match Remus'. "You activists all want freedom for werewolves, but what if those werewolves want to be werewolves? What if they feel like fitting in would be to find others like them? Werewolves come here to seek my advice and tell me their story because they know I'll never tell a soul about what they do in their free time…just like it isn't any of my business what any other wizard does in his free time."

Remus was still fuming, however he felt even more horrible for actually understanding where this crazy bloke was coming from. He walked back over to the coffee table and sat down, not taking his eyes off Belby's. "You do know that helping werewolves to form packs right before a war is madness, right? You do know that it'll be your fault if they end up joining the Death Eaters and killing innocent people…"

Belby nodded. "I know. And I hope with all my heart that things don't turn out that way."

"Because you'll be exposed and possibly sent to Azkaban?"

"No," Belby was now smiling again. "It's because I would _hate_ to see the public view werewolves as savage beasts, when really there are very few who choose that path."

The guest let out a stressful sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. He had to admit; his trust in Belby grew slightly after hearing that last statement. "Well, for whatever it's worth, I certainly hope your potion gets approval." Remus stood up abruptly and started for the door, disgust still etched in the lines of his forehead.

"Wait!"

"What?" Remus turned back around. "Do you expect me to thank you for your hospitality? You've got to be out of your bloody mind."

"No, but I did expect you to ask me why I'm so interested in werewolves."

Remus sighed again and shook his head. "Okay, why?"

"It's because I fell in love with one."

"Is that why _you_ came to America?" Remus asked as he turned back toward the door. He didn't want to show Belby the grin that he couldn't keep from spreading across his face…the grin that came from knowing that there are still people in this world who can love a werewolf.

Belby nodded. "You'll find that the people with the strongest passions—no matter what those passions might be—are those who are deeply in love."

Remus' face was burning now. "W-what happened to that werewolf you fell in love with?"

He heard the older man let out quite a jovial laugh. "Why, I married her! She's just not a morning person like myself!"

Remus turned on his heel in disbelief. "And she lets you dress like _that?_" he didn't even bother to clap a hand over his mouth after that one.

"Ah, and clearly the morning was not the best time for our conversation."

"Clearly not," said Remus flatly before swinging the door open. "But you're not such a bad person. Don't give me a reason to hate you during the war." And then Remus left.

MWPP

Sirius was highly suspicious of Remus during their whole trip back to Godric's Hollow. They'd met back up at the hotel before heading out to the Portkey with Maya and Ralph…but Remus hadn't mentioned his conversation with Damocles Belby once! In fact, Remus wasn't saying much of anything, and it was driving Sirius _crazy_.

"Moo~ny!" Sirius whined as they traveled back through the city. He wrapped his arms around Remus' shoulders from behind, and pouted. "What was Belby like?" Maya and Lily were chattering happily with a bored Ralph close behind, while James was eyeing Sirius and Remus with confusion.

James had woken up to use the toilet at around 2 in the morning, and what he found had shocked him quite considerably: Sirius was leaning against the wall next to the bathroom, his leather jacket draped over his lap like a blanket. James could tell by the way Sirius' head was lolling back and forth that the man was not getting a good night's sleep.

"_Pads? Pssst, Pads!" James whispered._

_Sirius shook himself awake and looked up at his friend with bloodshot eyes. "Hey Prongs. Did you and Lily have a good time with your sex?"_

_James knew better than to get angry with Sirius when he was half asleep. "Did Moony force you to sleep here?" He glanced over at Remus, who was sound asleep with his unusually large amount of pillows tossed every which way._

"_No," said Sirius with a yawn. "I was just feeling a bit overcrowded, that's all."_

"_What's the real reason?" In his half-asleep state, James knew Sirius would admit to almost anything. That's how he got his friend to admit to turning James' hair green before his first date with Lily._

"_I woke up with my arm around him."_

_James rolled his eyes, but was actually a little bit shocked. "Get back into bed, you tosser. It's not like it'll happen twice in a row, yeah?" The bespectacled marauder helped up his friend, who then staggered across the room as though he'd been tranquilized._

From the way Sirius was acting, James assumed he'd forgotten the whole 'bed incident'. He wasn't too sure he wanted to remind his friend, as this might cause even more confusion in that tiny brain of his.

"Mooooooooony!!"

"PISS OFF!!"

Sirius immediately stepped away from his friend and pulled out his pocket watch. He cocked his head to the side. "Seven forty-two," he pondered. "Are you still in bitch mode?"

"I'll bitch mode _you! _Minus fifty points!" Remus snarled. Lily and James turned their heads to give Remus the 'we'd silence you with a charm, but we know you can do wandless, unincanted magic' look. Maya and Ralph seemed a little frightened, so Lily quietly explained to them how Remus gets in the mornings.

Sirius clutched his heart in mock pain, not caring at all that the werewolf he was whining to was angry as hell. "Awww, does that mean I lose all the points I gained _last night_?" his emphasis on the last two words was amplified by the wiggling of his eyebrows.

"You lost those when you slipped your arm around me in bed, you wanker," said Remus. He couldn't help the corners of his mouth twitching upward when he saw the color drain from Sirius' face. James choked and Lily's face turned red.

"W-what?" But Remus said no more. He knew this time of day wasn't the best time for him to be talking.

The Portkey, a giant British flag this time, was placed just outside Central Sky's entrance. "Well, this is where we leave you off!" said Maya cheerfully. "You guys did fabulous, even if you don't think you did. I'm sure they'll come around—"

Ralph cleared his throat and everyone looked at him. "It wasn't enough, though, was it?"

"What do you mean?" asked James.

When Ralph continued, he spoke slowly. "There's a dark side to Central Sky that you didn't get to see, and they were certainly able to pick sides much easier than the regular townsfolk."

"Ralph! Don't say cryptic things!" cried Maya, but Lily, Sirius, and James seemed unconcerned. They'd heard stuff like that from Mad-Eye loads of times. The group said their goodbyes and grabbed hold of the Portkey, which thankfully did not sent them to the sewers or a forest. Instead it took them to the inside of what looked like an abandoned muggle bus shelter on the outskirts of London.

As they searched for a safe place to Disapparate, a shiver ran down Remus' spine. He just couldn't stop thinking about what Ralph had said moments ago. Whether Sirius noticed his distress or was just trying to get back on his good side, it felt nice to have his friend's arm wrapped around his shoulders.

"Don't worry, Moony," Sirius whispered into Remus' ear, giving him shivers for an entirely different reason. "Your bad mood should be gone now. It's one in the afternoon here."

* * *

Please please PLEASE review! I love it when you do!


	9. Hold Me Tight

A/N: *sigh* I missed posting this on Valentines Day. Oh well, think of it as a Valentines Day present anyway. Also, I'd really like to say thank you to everyone who's given me such sweet reviews. I've never been happier, knowing that people love my story! Please keep reading it!

Chapter Nine: **Hold Me Tight**

As he looked into Sirius' impatient, sorrowful eyes, James saw a reflection of himself from back in seventh year. That of course, was the year Lily finally started to date him properly. Unfortunately for him, he was required to spent copious amounts of time with Head Boy duty, leaving him almost no time to be with his majestic Head Girl.

James rested a hand on Sirius' shoulder. "I feel your pain, mate," he whispered. Sirius gave him a confused look, and was about to ask the bespectacled Marauder what he meant, when…

"Potter! Black!" Both of Mad-Eye Moody's eyes were focused on the mentioned wizards. "If you nancies can't take the training, then go and continue your snog session somewhere else!" The Prewett twins chortled, and James' face turned brilliantly red. Sirius was laughing at James, too. He couldn't help that he found every single thing Mad-Eye said horrendously funny. This probably didn't help his career as an Auror.

_Well_, thought James, _at least that got Sirius to forget about his problems_. Lately he'd been noticing Sirius' decreased interest in work, and he'd assumed that this had something to do with a mixture of Regulus and Remus. James watched Sirius closely, noticing the creases that appeared between his eyebrows when he read over Death Eater files. Maya's article in the _Daily Sky_ was reprinted in the international section of the _Daily Prophet_, causing a noticeable stall in Death Eater activities…but that didn't mean they should let their guards down.

The werewolf really wasn't helping make things easier for Sirius. He had been in a right state for a while after their trip to New York. He slagged off at everyone who crossed his path…and even Lily didn't want to be near him. Not exactly a good sign when he was now going to be living with them for an indefinite amount of time. Eventually, after finally confessing about his horrid conversation with Belby, he started to lighten up a bit.

James was quite surprised at how easily Sirius could pretend to be the perfect boyfriend. How could Remus not be giving him a million "points" for rubbing the werewolf's shoulders and squeezing him tightly whenever the topic of Belby was discussed? Remus was not as good at physical comfort, so it had been quite difficult for him to help Sirius out when the topic of Regulus came up. But still…Remus acted like he didn't even notice his friend's gestures!

Could it be that Sirius had been acting affectionately toward Remus for years, and James was only noticing the extent of it now? Sirius never rubbed _his_ shoulders and did one-arm snuggling. Not that he minded; James was fine with having two best friends who were gay…but the ground rule had always been that they weren't allowed to be gay with James.

Perhaps, James thought as he mulled over Sirius and Remus in his mind, there was a difference between being platonic gay best friends and being straight best friends. Maybe having the same sexual orientation made it okay to touch each other intimately without it meaning anything.

Who was he kidding…James knew better than this! He knew how inappropriate it would be for him to snuggle with straight females like Alice Longbottom or Andromeda Tonks. Sirius and Remus obviously had something special going for them in their friendship, and James thanked Merlin every day that Lily understood how difficult it was to be friends with these two impossible individuals.

Sadly, Sirius had been so busy with Auror training in the weeks that followed their arrival home; he barely had any time for dating lessons with Remus. Remus acted like he was completely fine with everything, but James had a funny feeling he was secretly deducting those "points" of his from Sirius for not spending time with him. Meanwhile, James tried everything he could to get his best mate's mind off of whatever was worrying him while they were at work.

On this particular day, Mad-Eye had taken a group of the youngest and most inexperienced Aurors on a practice mission inside the Ministry's new "simulation room". It acted in a similar way to Hogwarts' Room of Requirement, in that Mad-Eye could create the scenery and props needed to give the Aurors their very own "Death Eater hunt". The simulated Death Eaters were nothing more than cloaked mannequins, and the course was similar to that of muggle laser tag. However—as poor Frank Longbottom was the first to figure out—the "Death Eaters" were charmed with the ability to stun opponents for various reasons.

Of course, Mad-Eye absolutely _detested_ this new method of training. "Total, rubbish!" he told them. "I still say ye've got to learn by bein' out in the real world. Get your hands on some real Death Eaters. Except you don't want to _actually_ use yer hands."

"Ah, but that's a matter of opinion, Sir. I could think of quite a few hundred ways to subdue a Death Eater with your hands." Sirius couldn't help himself.

"Don't abuse that mouth while you've still got it, Black."

Sirius felt a sharp pain as his teeth involuntarily pressed down into his tongue. "AUUGH!" Frank, Alice, Gideon, Fabian, Kingsley, and James hooted with laughter, knowing full well what hex Mad-Eye had just used on their friend.

After the simulation practice was over, Mad-Eye was due in a meeting with Dumbledore. Therefore, he regrettably had to let his Aurors-in-training go home early for the weekend. "So, tonight are you finally going to take out that guy you fancy?" James waggled his eyebrows at his friend. He _had_ to cheer Sirius up…he just _had_ to. He followed Sirius out the only exit that would bring them to the streets of London directly outside the Ministry.

"What guy?" Sirius raised his voice over the rush of city traffic.

"You know, my gardener."

Sirius blushed and turned his head away from James. "It's just Moony."

"Yeah I _know_, but to you he's hardly 'just Moony', right?" said James. He nudged Sirius with his elbow.

"If I weren't so exhausted from training, I'd tell you to fuck off. Where do you and your woman get off making cheap shots like that at me and Moony? We're mates, we've been mates for eight years, and we're going to still be mates after this whole thing is over."

"Oh I'll bet you will," James said suggestively.

Sirius sighed and shoved James lightly. He didn't feel like punching out his best friend on a day they got to go home early. He wanted to take Remus out tonight…but there were _problems._ He wasn't going to admit this to James, but he was starting to have cold feet about dating his best friend. His heart raced every time he thought about the ice-skating, and any other future dates they might be going on. A piece of Sirius' sanity had crumbled when he found out about his brother, and he somehow felt like a weaker person all around.

Obviously it was a nerves thing. He was terribly, painfully nervous about being in a relationship during such a horribly dark time…a dark time that already took his little brother away. Why else would he suddenly feel like this around Remus? Remus had always been the one guy he could be affectionate with without any strings attached. What if he felt the same nervousness with every guy he tried to properly date from now on? Sirius was feeling more and more insecure every day. The dating lessons were supposed to help with this, but he wondered if maybe this wasn't the best time.

But the worst part was…something inside Sirius made him want to continue. The twinge he felt in his heart when he thought about telling Remus to stop…it was much more painful than his thoughts of uncertainty. _So_, thought Sirius, trying to be as determined as possible, _I'm going to get myself out of this rut and be the best boyfriend Moony's ever had…_Sirius almost laughed to himself at the word "rut", remembering all the deer-related jokes they'd made about James back in school.

James was now looking at his fellow Auror with wide, mock-innocent eyes. Sirius shook his head, sighed again, and decided that the only way to cheer himself up would be to play along with James' idiotic fantasies. "Mr. Prongs, what do you think I should do tonight to win over your fair gardener's heart?"

A huge grin broke out across James' face, and he punched Sirius playfully in the arm. "I remembered Lily's favorite muggle film last week…so I took her to go see a showing of it in the old theater downtown."

"_African Queen?_"

"What? How did you know that?"

"I saw it was playing at that theater, and I assumed that Lily has the same taste in muggle films as Moony," Sirius said, running a hand through his hair as it blew around in the wind. "It's one of his favorites too," he added.

James rubbed his chin. "Say Pads?"

They crossed the street and began walking through a shopping district. This time the previous year, the two pureblood wizards would have felt extraordinarily out of place in a street packed with muggles…but now James and Sirius walked briskly through the crowds as though they'd done it their entire lives. "Yeah?" Sirius answered once they'd gotten to a less noisy area.

James cleared his throat. "What's _my_ favorite muggle film?"

The other man looked at James as though his hair had turned to flobberworms. "_You_ have a favorite muggle film?"

"…No," answered James.

"Then what the hell you asking me for?"

"Sorry, mate. I just thought that since you knew about Remus' favorite films…well maybe you'd know about mine too. Cuz we're mates and all."

"Why would I need to know about your favorite muggle film?"

"Why would you need to know about Moony's?"

Sirius shot him an exasperated look. "I don't like the way this conversation is going." James laughed. "Okay, Prongs, I get it. I should think of something Moony really likes and surprise him by remembering it? That's actually a pretty good idea…it was one of Moony's suggestions to me. He said something like…'Remembering something special' blah, blah, blah…'the one you love', blah, blah, blah…'surprising is the key to winning the heart'. Or something like that." Sirius scratched his head. Obviously his remembering skills were not _that_ great.

James shook his head. "It's what being a good boyfriend is all about—remembering things that is."

"Sounds weird when you say it." Sirius wiped some sweat off his forehead. The August air had been unbearably hot. "About me and Moony being boyfriends."

James looked at Sirius curiously. "Why? Because you're 'mates, have been mates for eight years, and are going to still be mates after this whole thing is over'?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Yeah. I guess I'm glad he's not really my boyfriend. Makes it a lot easier to deal with."

James decided not to question whatever Sirius was pondering in regards to his relationship with Remus. Suddenly, as they strolled past the local theater, Sirius' gray eyes lit up. "They're putting on a production of _Twelfth Night!_ Tonight! Moony will love it!"

"Shakespeare? I thought Moony liked _Hamlet?"_ James pointed out.

Sirius chuckled and relayed a conversation he'd had with Remus a few months earlier…

_Sirius instantly regretted stopping at James' house after his most recent abysmal date. But how could he have known that Remus Lupin, killjoy-extraordinaire after a full moon, would be spending the night? And worst of all, James and Lily were sound asleep in their sickening little newlywed bubble. Remus absolutely forbad Sirius from waking them up. "I just don't understand how you can date so many people at once," Remus reprimanded._

"_I have achieved greatness! I can date three birds and two blokes without any of them knowing of the others!"_

"_Ugh!" said Remus, disgusted. "I would hardly consider that an achievement of greatness."_

"_Be not afraid of greatness, Moony! Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them!" Sirius made a lewd motion as he said the word 'thrust'._

_Suddenly and quite unexpectedly, Remus squealed, "That's my favorite Shakespeare play!"_

"_What's that?" Sirius scratched his head._

"_Twelfth Night! About the cross-dressing girl! You were just quoting it."_

"_I thought your favorite Shakespeare play was Hamlet! You told me you thought Hamlet was a sexy beast!"_

"_I said no such thing. And Hamlet stopped being my favorite Shakespeare after you butchered it with your distasteful acting skills."_

James shook with laughter and pulled off his glasses to wipe his eyes. "Your acting is shite, mate." Sirius chuckled and shoved James' shoulder before walking up to the ticket booth. James followed him, knowing that it would probably take his friend a good twenty minutes to pay for something with muggle money.

MWPP

The hot July had rolled into a scorching August, and Lily had begun to wonder how exactly Remus was able to grow _anything_ in the wasteland that was her backyard. Or rather, the _former_ wasteland that was her backyard. Once he'd gotten over the whole Belby disaster, he's returned to his old self rather quickly. The energy he out into working in the garden was astounding.

He spent hours each day out in the yard, sometimes only coming inside to help make dinner. Lily and James poked fun at the slight tan their usually pale friend was developing. On one occasion, Sirius told Remus he thought the tan was adorable. Remus would brush such comments off, but Lily noticed him wearing a vest top (1) the following day. A warm happiness spread through her body – a happiness she knew was shared with James and Sirius – when she noticed Remus' self-consciousness about his scars melt away.

"You're going to have to pick the fluxweed on the full moon yourself, for the Polyjuice," Remus said casually. He and Lily were standing barefoot in the soft, green grass that surrounded the garden. Lily, not realizing how quickly a Herbologist could grow things when given the right tools, had not even bothered looking out the back window until this particular day. But when she did, she almost fell backwards in surprise upon seeing half of the yard filled with budding and sprouting plants. Rows of rainbow-colored daisies lined the area closest to the window.

"Right," said Lily. Remus was helping her grow plants that would come in useful for making a variety of healing and memory potions, as well as Polyjuice. She'd completely forgotten that there were a few plants Remus would have trouble with. Which brought her to the topic she'd been mulling over in her mind since she's noticed strange burns on Remus' fingers, in spite of his use of dragonhide gloves. "May I ask what you're growing in that roped-off section?" she pointed to small patch of soil in the far left corner of the garden.

"That's a little something for myself, actually. I put up a set of spells around it to keep everyone from poisoning themselves…I hope you don't mind."

"That all depends. Is it the something that's giving you those burns on your hands? Because I _know _my house is devoid of silver. We don't even keep sickles in the money jar anymore."

"Sickles aren't real silver, you know."

"Remus, _please_ answer my question!" Lily looked and sounded distressed now.

"It's aconite. Goes right through the dragonhide."

"Aconite! Remus, no! You're going to kill yourself!" Aconite was as painful to werewolves as garlic was to vampires. Panic shot through Lily as visions crossed her mind of Remus accidentally falling into the dangerous patch as he gardened.

"I was hoping—once there's approval of course—that you'd use it to make the Wolfsbane for me." He looked at her with big, soft, golden eyes.

Lily sighed heavily and put her hands on her hips. At least there was some explanation as to why he was growing it. "Figure out a way to garden it without touching it, and we'll see."

Remus gave her a thankful smile, and then changed the subject. "I was looking at your list…I don't think I can grow pomegranate in England, no matter how much I play around with the soil and air temperature."

Lily leaned over and kissed her friend on the cheek. "That's okay. I put that one on the list because they're yummy and too expensive to buy at the store."

"Ah, you will just have to wait until they're in season, my dear Hera."

Lily giggled. "You're such a bookworm! Why can't _I_ go out with you instead of Sirius! You're too good for someone who didn't even know that his own name was a constellation."

Remus chuckled merrily and bent over to pick a daisy. He handed it to Lily, who stuck it in her hair. "So, there's something personal I've been meaning to ask you." Remus wasn't shocked in the least when Lily's face suddenly went dark and a malicious grin spread across her face. Before she could ask him the usual _"So…you finally want some tips on how to please your man?_", Remus put a finger to her lips. "No, actually it's a question that involves you quite a bit more than it involves me."

The redhead cocked her head to the side and crinkled her nose. "This seems awfully similar to that horrifyingly embarrassing time you asked me if I knew the contraceptive charm."

Remus blushed deeply and turned away to look at his belladonna sprouts. "Well we do look after each other, you and I. And unfortunately this is another one of those embarrassing questions."

"Well? I haven't got all day, so ask me." She walked in a circle around Remus in order to meet his golden eyes with her emerald.

"Okay, okay. Well I've been thinking, you know, ever since that trip to New York…actually ever since we visited the Weasleys…and well, I live in your house now and I take up that extra room you have. And it's not like you can just _create_ another room out of thin air. It takes a lot of magic, and you live in a muggle village, yeah? So there are restrictions to the interior spells you can use and…"

"Oh for heaven's sake, Remus, get to the point! You're always so blunt and straightforward when you're talking to your boyfriend!"

"He's not my boyfriend…" Lily glared at him, which mean that this clearly wasn't the time and place for an argument. Remus took a deep breath. "Lily. Are you and James planning on having a baby soon? Because, erm, if you are…"

Lily's face was now a deep shade of crimson, and her voice came out a little shakier than usual. "You're insulting our friendship, Remus."

Remus felt his heart sting. "Oh Merlin, I'm so sorry! Honestly I can't believe myself for asking you such a personal question…I—"

"—No, that's not it. You know you're the only one other than James who's allowed to ask me things like that."

"T-then how was I insulting our friendship?"

Lily shook her head and turned toward a patch of blooming asphodel—just one of the many plants that probably shouldn't be growing in the United Kingdom. The gardener certainly had a way with cultivation spells. Her voice broke as she answered him. "There's no way I would ever kick a friend out of my house, even for a baby."

Remus grasped her hand and decided not to argue. "Thanks."

A few moments passed in silence between the two friends. The garden breeze always seemed to calm them down, and they were eternally grateful. "Remus?" Lily asked quietly. Their hands were still together and she noticed that his eyes were closed.

"Hm?"

"James and I _are_ trying to get pregnant. And guess what he said?" Remus opened his eyes, trying hard to fill his gaze with excitement. His attention urged her to continue. She cleared her throat, ruffled up her hair, and gave her best impression of James. "I wouldn't mind having a little Quidditch player flying around out there in Moony's garden."

"How dangerous!" cried Remus. He paused for a second. "Wait, he really said 'Moony's garden'?"

"He did!" Lily laughed. "And of course, he followed it with, 'I can't tell what Moony would hate more, a little kid skimming his daisies with a toy broom, or Padfoot trotting close behind'."

The werewolf shook his head. "When you do get pregnant, I'll make sure to baby-proof **and** doggie-proof the yard."

"Maybe you'd better do the doggie proofing now," she pointed to a patch of trampled knotgrass.

"I yelled at him this morning for that one. Told him if he did it again I'd chase him down and spray him with the muggle garden hose…why are you smiling like that?"

"I'm picturing the scene, yeah? And what would happen _after_ you spray him with the garden hose?"

Remus furrowed his eyebrows and looked at her suspiciously. "I guess…he'd take the opportunity to shake his wet fur all over me before transforming back."

"A-huh, and then?" she nodded, her eyebrows raised. Remus rolled his eyes, but decided to play along this time, just to see how Lily would react.

"Hmm, well after that I think we'd both have wet t-shirts, so we'd have to take them off. I still have my dirty gardening gloves on, so he'd just have to take my shirt off for me, wouldn't he?" Lily's eyes looked like giant green saucers and her jaw had dropped significantly. Remus grinned and continued. "Some water would drip down the side of his face…and I wonder to myself _'Hm, how can I stop that water droplet without touching him with my dirty gardening gloves'?"_

Lily squealed and threw her arms around Remus just in time for James and Sirius to approach the backyard. "Oi!" James shouted.

Remus felt Lily smirk as her face nudged his t-shirt. "It's okay, Prongs," said Remus with a twinkle in his eye. "She's only showing me a self-defense move. It's called 'the ribcage crusher'."

Remus' eyes narrowed as he watched Sirius trudge toward him with his hands behind his back, grinning like an idiot. "Uh oh. Prongs, what does he have behind his back?"

"No way, Moony. I'm not helping someone who's got my wife in his arms. You have to deal with Sirius on your own."

"What do you have, Sirius?" Remus pretended to look disapproving of Sirius' obvious 'I have something highly inappropriate behind my back' face.

"No, Rem! I bought you a present—oooh, daisies!" Sirius was briefly taken with a sudden urge to leap into the soil.

"If you dig up even one single flower, I'm tying you to tree," Remus reprimanded.

"Oooh, kinky!" said Sirius. Remus' eyes went dark.

James snorted and Lily couldn't keep the corners of her lips from twitching. But within seconds, the Potters were left in stitches as they witnessed Sirius' hair suddenly turn green and stand straight up in the air.

"Oi! Shit!" he grabbed his head and shouted. "Totally uncalled for, Moony!"

"I'll fix it only if the present you bought me is one-hundred percent appropriate."

"Normal boyfriends!" Sirius was hyperventilating at the state of his hair. "We're supposed to be NORMAL boyfriends who don't turn each others' hair into grass! (2)"

Remus rolled his eyes and waved his wand. Sirius's hair turned black and fell to his shoulders. He regained his composure and then fixed an excited look on Remus again. "Alright, Sirius. What have you got?"

"Magic beans!"

"…Magic beans? What are the odds of you having sold Diana to obtain those beans?" Remus' eyes were sparkling with laughter, and Sirius' heart suddenly felt warm. James grabbed Lily's hand and led her back up to the house. It's not as if their friends would even notice their absence.

Sirius wagged his finger. "For someone who isn't even my real boyfriend, you aren't going to get your wish _that_ easily."

Remus smiled. "Okay, okay. So you obtained these magic beans how?"

Sirius' grin was wider than Remus had seen it since before the trip to Central Sky. Obviously these magic beans were something quite spectacular. Remus had to admit, he'd been worried about Sirius for the past few weeks. The man had been so preoccupied with work…and Remus was feeling more than a little lonely without Sirius around. "I created them out of thin air, Moony! I have achieved ultimate greatness!"

"I don't recall you achieving such a high level of greatness."

_Yes, _thought Sirius. Remus had fallen right into his trap. He leaned in to Remus' ear…and making sure to use his 'sexy voice', he whispered, "Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them." He reached around Remus' body, grabbed his wrist, and placed the theater ticket into the palm of his hand.

When he stepped away from Remus, he noticed the werewolf's face was bright red. Sirius felt his own face burning, so he looked away just in time to see Lily and James giggling at them from the back door. Sirius hadn't actually _planned_ to do something like that to Remus. These little urges to do weird things just sprang up out of nowhere.

He returned his gaze to Remus. He noticed a shocked and, if it was possible, an even more embarrassed look on his friend's face.

"Y-you're taking me to see a show?"

"I am," Sirius rubbed the back of his neck. "You want to?"

"Of course I do!" Remus spluttered, making Sirius jump a little. "I…I can't believe you remembered my favorite Shakespeare!"

Seeing Remus' excitement calmed Sirius down a great deal. "Is it that hard to believe that I know so much about you? It would be quite different if I were going steady with any other bloke."

"Are you saying I'm easy to figure out?"

"Only to someone with years of practice. It's safe to say I know you better than anyone else, yeah?"

Remus stood very still with his mouth open as he processed what Sirius had just said. It was true. Sirius _did_ know him better than anyone. Not even Lily would have remembered his favorite Shakespeare play. And the weirdest thing was…Remus probably knew more about _Sirius_ than anyone else in the world, save maybe James. There were certain things Sirius felt better talking to James about—like his various unsuccessful sex romps—but Remus still felt like Sirius rarely kept anything really important from him.

"Moony are you trying to catch insects in your mouth? Wouldn't have guessed it to be a werewolf's favorite snack."

Remus closed his mouth and refocused. "Haha well now you know even _more_ about me. It's a good thing your Animagus isn't a fruit fly."

"So…if we forget how embarrassing this exchange has been, how about coming to the theater with me?"

Remus sighed and gave Sirius a genuine smile. "Sounds fantastic."

MWPP

Sirius wanted Remus to help him feel better. He wanted to forget about Regulus, wanted to forget about work, wanted to forget about his insecurities about dating Remus, and wanted to forget about not having a real boyfriend to be in love with. But most of all, he _really_ wanted to hold Remus' hand as they sat side-by-side in the muggle theater.

_Twelfth Night_, as performed by muggles, was surprisingly good. Sirius had actually never seen the play before, but he could tell right away how Remus could be attracted to such a storyline. The boyish girl who played the main character looked and sounded a lot like Remus, but of course Sirius was never going to tell him that. Back at Hogwarts, he'd once told a bloke that he looked 'as pretty as a girl'. He'll NEVER make that mistake again.

"Psst, Padfoot," whispered Remus.

Sirius' heart leapt out of his chest. He looked up and met Remus' sparkling golden eyes. "What?"

"It's intermission and you've been staring at my hand since the beginning of Act II."

"Sorry, mate. I don't know much about these muggle style dates." Sirius wasn't about to admit that he was actually starting to doubt his ability to date Remus.

"It _is_ acceptable to hold someone's hand on a date to the theater, if that's what you've been wondering."

"Oh. Okay cool." Sirius slowly raised his hand and placed it on top of Remus' palm. Remus burst out laughing. "What?" Sirius yelped, offended. He'd held Remus' hand numerous times, so why was this time suddenly so funny?

"It's intermission, you moron. And I've got to use the men's room."

"Oh," Sirius' face turned red and he released Remus' hand. "Well I'll just wait here then."

"Make sure to stand up and stretch your legs," Remus said as he stood up. But before he left, Sirius heard him say, "The way you get so nervous about the littlest things is very sweet." The dark haired Marauder suddenly felt quite strange as he watched his friend walk away.

Remus and Sirius held hands for the rest of the performance—which was too short, in Sirius' opinion. When Remus leant his head on his friend's shoulder during the final scenes, Sirius felt like he might burst from happiness just knowing he had a friend who would be this nice to him.

"Why've you been so quiet, Pads?" Remus asked as they stood together in the evening breeze outside the theater. Their fingers were still laced, which was probably why so many muggles were giving them disapproving looks. But Remus and Sirius were beyond caring what muggle society thought of them, when there were so many more pressing prejudices inside the wizarding world.

Sirius suddenly looked into Remus' eyes and smiled widely. "I'm just happy you're my mate, that's all." He really _was_ happy. He wasn't sure how it happened, but when Remus had called him 'sweet' back there, all of the roadblocks he'd put up recently vanished. It was like all the confidence he'd had in Hogwarts came rushing back, pumping through his veins like adrenaline.

Remus grinned at Sirius' infectious smile. "If being your friend is all it takes to make you happy, then you shouldn't be worried about anything. I'll always be your mate."

"I was just getting a little scared about pretend dating you, that's all. Going to work and seeing what we've gotta do to battle these Death Eaters…it's enough to make even the Great Sirius Black doubt himself." Remus laughed, not really knowing how to react to the revelation that Sirius was scared about dating him. "I'm okay now, thought. Honest, Moony."

"That's good, because I need you to be there for me too. In case you've forgotten, I've also got some insecurities." Remus subconsciously rubbed the spot on his upper arm where Umbridge had branded him. "We'll get over every hardship this war throws at us. Together." And with that, squeezed Sirius' hand tightly. Sirius felt his whole body tingle, and in that moment he knew—he _had_ to stay with Remus now. He _had_ to be by his friend's side no matter how insecure he felt…because Remus was…Remus was important.

Remus and Sirius walked down an Apparating alleyway with smiles on their faces and hands still linked tightly together. Sirius closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, reveling in the feeling of comfort he could finally enjoy. Dating Remus wasn't going to end up a mess…because Remus _promised_ they'd always be mates. Sirius' heart felt a lot lighter, and it had nothing to do with the sensation of Apparating.

"So," Sirius began as they strode down an empty street in Godric's Hollow. "Clearly Antonio was in love with Sebastian! Is that why it's your favorite Shakespeare?"

Remus snorted, but he felt relieved to finally hear Sirius talking like his normal, insane self. "What? How do you notice such things?"

Sirius put the back of his hand on his forehead and sighed dramatically. "Oh my dear Moony! How could you be so inconsiderate as to not understand my fantasy!"

"Fantasy? Do I really want to know—"

"—It's always been my fantasy to turn into a pirate and harbor a secret, passionate love for someone whilst I run from the law!" he threw out his arm in a passionate way. "I thought boyfriends were supposed to remember things about one another!"

Remus hooked arms with Sirius' and looked into his handsome face with glittering golden eyes. "I don't believe I've heard you mention such a fantasy before. It's sounds to me like a load of bollocks you've just made up."

"You know, Prongs fantasizes about me romancing his gardener."

"_Romancing!_" Remus burst out laughing. "Is _that_ what we're doing? I feel like that's totally not what we're doing!" He noticed Sirius' red face and laughed even harder. "Okay, you know what Lily had me do today?"

"What?"

"She had me telling her a scene that involved me spraying you with a garden hose, you taking off my shirt, and me getting ready to lick a water droplet off your chin!"

"Holy shit! We have to stop hanging out with those perverts!" He threw an arm around Remus' neck and pulled the werewolf closer. His tawny hair smelled like Lily's green apple shampoo.

"You sure about that?" chuckled Remus, throwing both his arms around Sirius' middle in a sudden urge to be more affectionate. "Our only other option is Peter and his legion of whores."

Sirius roared with laughter. "You said it, not me!" The two made their way up the front steps of the Potters' house, chuckling. Sirius played with the hair at the nape of Remus' neck and watched the light summer breeze brush the soft brown strands. They stood at the door like that for a few minutes—Sirius with his arm around Remus' neck and Remus hugging Sirius' chest. They could hear crickets chirping from the nearby trees.

They both felt sudden urges to lean closer, and to face each other. Sirius was highly aware of his t-shirt moving as his heart pounded furiously against his chest. Remus tried to break the awkward silence. "Hey, you're favorite moon is out."

Sirius looked up and noticed a waning third quarter moon lighting up the sky. "Brilliant."

Remus watched the moon reflect in Sirius' silver eyes as the man stared fondly up at it. "Why's it your favorite? I don't think I've ever asked," whispered Remus, rubbing Sirius' back with his thumb. Remus almost giggled as he realized how completely non-muscular Sirius was underneath his shirt.

"Can't you guess?" Remus shook his head. "It's because I know that when it looks like this, you've already healed from the full moon…but it's still quite awhile 'till the next one."

Upon hearing this, Remus felt his heart tingle and his throat choke up. All he could do was lean in and hug his friend tightly, pressing his face into Sirius' shoulder and neck. An unintelligible noise came out of Sirius' mouth. He was frozen on the spot with Remus pressed up close to his panicking heart. "Moony…" he whispered breathlessly.

Remus pulled his head back smiled sweetly. Sirius was giving him a confusing look…one that he hadn't ever seen before, and he couldn't exactly pinpoint what it meant. But whatever it was ended with a creak of the front door.

James stepped outside, but then quickly turned around when he noticed his friends with their arms around each other. "Erm, hello lads," was all James could bring himself to say before disappearing back into the house, leaving the door ajar in his haste.

Remus was suddenly very flustered. "Um, thanks for taking me out! You're getting loads of points for remembering my favorite Shakespeare. I—" Sirius had grabbed his wrist. "What?"

"Remus…"

The werewolf sighed. "I know. If this were a real date, with your real boyfriend, that would have been the perfect time for a kiss."

"But we're not going to be kissing."

"No. We're not. You need to save it for someone you really love. You can't just go around kissing any old person like you usually do."

"Would it be weird…with us? Is that what you're _really_ saying?"

"I don't know, Sirius. I don't know if it would be weird. Might be."

"You're right. It would totally be weird…you and me snogging."

Remus pulled a face. "Ugh! It's just like you to not know the different between snogging and kissing."

Sirius chuckled, embarrassed. "I do too know the difference! And since you never said anything about snogging, that means we're allowed too, right?" he joked. Remus shoved him and stepped through the doorway. "No? What about smooching?"

"Our lips will not be touching in any way, Sirius." Remus stated, failing to control his laughter. "Now. You going to Apparate or Floo?"

Sirius looked at his watch. "I think I'll take a little walk and then Apparate."

"Alright. See you tomorrow?"

"See you tomorrow." But before Remus could turn around, Sirius' lips brushed his cheek for half a second.

"Sirius!" Remus turned to where Sirius was standing, his heart beating fast out of pure shock. But the sneaky rascal had disappeared, and a shaggy dog was now racing down the sidewalk. Remus shook his head and felt a smile tug at the corners of his mouth.

* * *

(1)A vest top in the UK is a sleeveless athletic shirt worn in the summertime.

(2) lol Remus invented the Chia Pet. I'm sorry, it had to be said.

As always, I would be thrilled to hear from you in a review!


	10. Good Day Sunshine

**A/N**: Yeah...there's no excuse for how long it's been since I've updated. But I PROMISE that this fic is not abandoned. I love it to death and would never do something like that to it. Anyway, this chapter is kind of a three part storyline type thing. I've already got part 2 written, so expect that relatively soon.

Chapter Ten: **Good Day Sunshine**

"Oooh that hairstyle makes you look very sexy, Master James," a high-pitched nasally voice echoed down the hall to where Lily was sitting up sleepily in bed.

"James!" she hollered crankily. "I hate that mirror! It hits on you every day and then tells me I'm fat!"

"I can't get rid of it Lils! Family heirloom and all…you know how it is!" James shouted back, his glasses falling askew.

"Ooh, you might want to fix those glasses dear. Might I suggest transfiguring them to the latest horn-rimmed fashion?" James considered this suggestion for a moment before the sound of his wife's voice broke through his eardrums.

"It's five in the bloody morning! Can't you charm it or something?!" cried Lily, who's head was pounding from lack of sufficient sleep. She generally liked mornings, and was a strong advocate of getting a nice, early start to the day…but this horrid mirror wasn't exactly what she would call 'nice'.

"He can't charm, me you savage harlot! You scarlet woman!" the mirror shrieked.

Lily barely registered the insult before leaping out of bed, rushing down the hall, and sliding into the bathroom—wand in hand. She fought her way through the head rush of standing up too fast, and within seconds she was face-to-face with her sworn enemy.

"Can't wizards have normal family heirlooms like everybody else?!" her wand was pointed directly at the center of the mirror. James heaved a great sigh and turned to fix his hair in the muggle vanity mirror, trying desperately to ignore both Lily and the offending magical object.

If mirrors could change color, this one would be redder than the Gryffindor curtains. "Was that a jab at the Potters' blood purity? Hm? WAS IT?!" the mirror inquired viciously.

"I'll have you know that blood purity means NOTHING in this household, you hear me you disgusting piece of junk not fit to be a pocket mirror!"

"**SHUT THE **_**FUCK**_** UP!**" roared an entirely new voice.

Lily and James shot out of the bathroom and back into their bedroom, leaving the shocked mirror to have its heart attack in peace.

MWPP

The August full moon had always been Remus' least favorite. The heat left the wolf sluggish, exhausted, and dissatisfied, feelings that unfortunately transferred over to the human in the days following his transformation. His usual morning problems were magnified tenfold, which did not bode well for the plants that required watering at precisely 5 AM.

On this particular post-moon morning, Remus painfully dragged himself out of bed after a thunderous ten-minute, one-sided cussing match with James, Lily, and the mirror in the bathroom. James had to leave to finish up some paperwork (the Aurors took turns going in early on Saturdays) and Lily couldn't get back to sleep after all the fighting.

Lily watched silently as Remus stumbled out into the garden, wearing only boxer shorts and looking like what Sirius would humorously describe as a 'zombie werewolf'. She knew he was going to get nowhere gardening without a wand – or shoes for that matter – so she tiptoed after Remus and kindly handed her sleepwalking friend his wand. Remus mumbled thanks, and hardly noticed when Lily charmed a pair of sandals onto his feet.

Remus' eyes were barely open, so naturally he would trip over a rock and tumble forward. After a few choice swear words, he stood up, wiped the grass off his knees, and pointed a dangerously wobbly arm at the asphodel. Lily, who'd been standing a few feet away, grabbed his wand arm to steady it. "Which plants need watering, dear?"

"Asssssss…"

Lily giggled. "Yes, and I can see a nice bit of yours right now." He looked up at her face and made a screwed-up expression that clearly meant he had no idea he was standing outside almost completely naked. In retrospect, Lily should probably have equipped him with more than just sandals. But she never knew when Sirius might stroll by and have a cow (or more accurately, a dog) when he sees Remus trying to do something half-naked and half-asleep. The prospect excited her to no end.

"My deductive reasoning is telling me I should water the asphodels, then," said Lily. She grabbed Remus' shoulders and gave him a push in the direction of the house. "Go back inside and lie down before the neighbors wake up and think I've got myself a male stripper."

MWPP

_Sirius couldn't decide whether or not Professor Slughorn's actions were unjustly horrible or the most wonderful thing the fat bastard had ever done. It was their first day of Advanced Potions, and he'd separated the legendary Potter-Black duo as partners. The tosser paired James with that mate-stealing redhead, Lily Evans, and it was only a matter of time before they'd be off making babies and sending poor, lonely, 16-year-old Padfoot to the dog pound. That arse of a Hogwarts teacher also decided it was a good idea to partner Sirius up with Bellatrix. The worst of it was that when Bellatrix had her hair tied back, she looked __**exactly**__ like Sirius. Actually, as Snivellus couldn't wait even one second to point out, cousin Bella could have passed as Sirius' much manlier twin brother if she weren't wearing so much lipstick. Sirius' deep, black eyeliner wasn't helping._

_Speaking of Snivellus, Remus looked pretty pleased at being partnered with the hook-nosed potions wiz. Normally this would have made Sirius pretty damn angry…but there was something about the positioning of the two directly in front of Sirius that had the dog Animagus secretly thanking good ol' Sluggy. Sirius had only come out as bisexual a few days ago, right after the feast, but already he seemed much more as ease with staring at cute boys. So at this point in Sirius' adolescence, there could be nothing better than being within a wand's reach of wreaking havoc on Snivellus, coupled with having a direct view of Remus' wonderfully tight arse._

_Sirius had already promised Remus, for the sake of their friendship, that he would not ruin Snape's potions. But Remus hadn't mentioned anything about damage to the greasy boy's actual self. Sirius had his wand pointed directly at Snape and was just about to give the unfortunate git a magically induced wedgie, when suddenly Remus bent over to pick up something he dropped._

_Sirius' eyes automatically glued themselves to Remus' backside, and magic shot from his wand before he'd realized the spell had been cast. Apparently a wedgie spell was not something that should be mixed with whatever Snape had been brewing in his cauldron…_

_**BOOOOOM!**_

He awoke with a start and began to bark loudly, lost in the confusion of dream versus reality. Once Sirius had calmed himself down, his brain registered that a real explosion had indeed woken him up. After a final shake of his head, he climbed out of the bush he was sleeping in, followed by a shocked little Wormtail who had apparently been nested behind Sirius' ears.

Suddenly, a strange smell filled his nostrils. A quite powerful, sickeningly fruity smell that reminded him of the scented candles his Divinations professor had been fond of. He glanced up and met the furious eyes of one of those hags that frequent Knockturn Alley. For a few terrifying moments, Sirius believed that he might have spent the night in said notorious shopping district. But the dew-covered grass beneath his paws told him otherwise. He was frozen solid from the tip of his nose to the end of his tail as the hag's brown, decrepit hand grasped the fur on his neck.

This would surely be the end of Sirius Black. He shook his head frantically, in hopes that he could at least signal for Peter's assistance. But that good for nothing rat was probably more terrified than he was. The hag's death grip dragged Sirius over to what looked like a sliding glass door.

"Mark!" she hollered. "I just caught the foul beast that ruined my petunias!"

MWPP

Lily was surprised to find that Remus, who was currently collapsed on the living-room sofa and mumbling unintelligibly, had not awoken when her painkilling potion exploded. Or when she swore loudly – something she rarely did when James was in the house. The wine cellar/Lily's potions dungeon was not soundproof for the purpose of someone coming to her rescue should an accident occur. Well so much for that!

In her process of observing Remus, she saw something move out of the corner of her eye. Her head spun to look at the window next to the front door, and what she saw almost gave her a heart attack: a middle-aged woman with overly-tanned skin and bleached hair was peering through the window. Lily cocked her head to one side and slowly opened the door.

Lily tried her best to assess the situation calmly when she noticed the woman standing in her bushes. "Erm, hello? Mrs. Earst?" said a cautious Lily. The woman looked at her, startled, having not realized that Lily had opened the door.

"Oh! Hello! I was just checking to see if you were home!" she shouted. Lily resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Mrs. Earst was her least favorite muggle neighbor, nosy and obnoxious, always spying on them through the curtains as though she were a real-life version of Gladys Kravitz from _Bewitched._

"Well, I am home. Is there something you…wanted?" Lily stepped outside and closed the door when she noticed Mrs. Earst peeking in at the half-naked man on her couch. It was then that Lily noticed the obvious reason for her neighbor's visit. A large black dog stood shaking next to the front doorstep, apparently terrified. Lily groaned and smacked her forehead.

"I found this animal sleeping in my garden this morning!" At this, the dog approached Lily and began to whine helplessly. Lily glared. "I've seen it at your house before, so am I correct in assuming it's yours?"

"Oh, yes. He…belongs to my gardener. I'm very sorry, Mrs. Earst." But Lily wasn't sorry. As much as she hated Mrs. Earst, this situation was more problematic to Lily than it was to the woman whose garden was invaded. Lily continued giving the dog an ice-cold stare as he slipped through the doorway, tracking in soil from the neighbor's yard.

"Please don't let it happen again!" reprimanded Mrs. Earst. "Can you believe my husband found _seven_ bottles of foreign alcohol lying next to this dog? How do you suppose that happened?"

Lily furrowed her eyebrows, her heart panicking. "Foreign?"

"Some foul concoction – Flame Whiskey – or some such nonsense. Anyway, I've got to run, dear! Please make sure your gardener keeps that dog on a leash!" the woman turned around and began heading across the street to her house.

"If he doesn't, I certainly will!" Lily called after her. After closing the door, she stood facing the wall with her face screwed up in rage. "What the _hell_ were you thinking, Sirius Black? That it's okay to get piss drunk and give neighbors a reason to suspect us of strange behavior?"

When she didn't hear the usual smarmy apology, Lily turned around to face him, and found that he was still in dog form. Padfoot's eyes were tired, but his tail was now wagging as he rubbed his nose gently to Remus' hand. Miraculously, the tawny-haired man stayed asleep after a visit from the most irritating woman on the planet.

Lily couldn't move as she witnessed Padfoot staring into Remus' sleeping face. He slowly began licking the sleepyhead's hand, causing him to grin in his sleep. Lily sighed and whispered to herself. "How can I stay mad at you when you act like that?"

Sirius, being in dog form, heard Lily's words perfectly, and immediately transformed. Lily almost fell backward in surprise when a little grey puffball leapt away from Sirius and turned into a highly disheveled man just seconds later.

"Peter!" exclaimed Lily. "Where were _you_ hiding?"

"Shh!" warned Sirius, pointing to the sleeping form of Remus. The man looked a little silly sleeping half-naked on a couch with a goofy grin on his face.

Lily lowered her voice to a whisper. "What were you doing getting drunk over at the neighbors'?" she asked again. "I mean, excuse my language, but you two look like shit." Peter looked at her and shrugged before heading toward to kitchen.

But Sirius didn't answer her question. He was too busy staring at Remus. "He still smiles when he sleeps. Used to do that back at school," he said fondly.

Lily was taken aback by the softness of Sirius' voice. "It probably means he's dreaming about something good."

"Even after the past few weeks, I really hope he's dreaming about me…" Sirius trailed off.

"W-what are you saying?"

But Sirius continued watching Remus as if he hadn't heard Lily say anything. "Sirius?" she stepped closer. "Sirius what are you…"

Sirius was lowering his face to Remus', inching closer at a snail's pace. He had an incomprehensible look in his sleep-deprived eyes. Lily stretched her neck to see both of their expressions; waiting for Sirius to make the move that everyone had expected him to eventually make. Was Lily about to witness newfound romance between her friends first hand? _Probably not_, she thought. It wasn't going to be _that_ easy getting Remus and Sirius together.

Remus suddenly awoke and sat bolt upright on the couch. "Auugh! Sirius!" With both hands, he shoved the now snickering man away from him.

"What?" inquired Lily. She tried to hide her disappointment that Sirius hadn't awoken Remus with a kiss.

Remus looked at Lily and then gave Sirius a flat look. "He blew in my ear." Sirius stuck his tongue out and then leapt for the kitchen, knowing full well that Remus would chase him, which of course was the case. Remus crashed into him in the doorway, causing Peter to shriek and Sirius to let out his trademark barking laughter.

Lily's face went red. _Oh my GOD! He's really got crush on Remus! I…can't believe it, _she thought. Before she had accepted James' affections, James had blown in her ear countless times. Lily had considered it an annoying but romantic gesture – one that tested boundary limits during the beginning stages of attraction. She wondered if Sirius realized just how obvious he was being. She also wondered how on _Earth_ Remus could sleep through explosions and annoying neighbors, but wake up instantly at a tiny puff of air from Sirius' lips.

She was also quite surprised at Sirius' unyielding persistence with Remus. Even if his intentions were purely platonic, Remus had been noticeably pushing him away these past couple of weeks. Something intimate had happened between them that they probably hadn't been ready for: James said he saw them kissing, or something, on the night they'd gone to see that play. They'd had their arms around each other at least, and Remus had walked through the Potters' door that evening looking flustered and emotional.

Lily hadn't known what to think of it until James had told her what he'd seen. It started out looking like Remus had been happy…that he'd embraced a romantic gesture from best friend. But the following weeks convinced Lily that she was wrong. Remus had only gone on a few dates with Sirius since then, and he almost always came back looking bored or annoyed. One day at the Ministry, James asked Sirius what was going on with them. According to James (although Lily didn't quite believe this part), Sirius would have burst into frustrated tears had it not been for Mad-Eye Moody watching him with both eyes.

Sirius, of course, had no idea what had caused Remus' sudden annoyance with him. He took it as a challenge to overcome in their "relationship". So for every time Remus ignored him or made an excuse not to go out with him, Sirius just tried that much harder to get Remus to like him again. But while Sirius was always up for a difficult challenge, he also got overly dramatic about every little thing. So unfortunately, it seemed as though getting sloshed with Peter was the direct result of the way Remus had been acting toward him.

Lily sighed, rubbed her temples, and approached the kitchen.

MWPP

It was mornings like this that made Lily wish she didn't work from her home. The tension in the room was escalating to unbelievable heights, as everyone in it was suffering from their own various problems. Apparently, Sirius and Peter had been in the process of buying some new dress robes at Madame Malkin's when suddenly Sirius had decided it would be more fun to take on Diagon Alley drunk. Sirius claimed he couldn't quiet remember how he ended up in Godric's Hollow…but Peter's sudden lack of eyelashes and fingernails suggested splinched Apparation had taken place.

"Peter…would you kindly stop eating all of the Potters' food? Those leftovers were supposed to go into tonight's dinner," Remus scolded, gritting his teeth. Peter pouted, but gave Remus a genuinely sorry look with his ever-watery eyes.

Lily shook her head at Remus' attitude. "It's okay, Peter. I was going to order some muggle takeout for tonight anyway."

"And why was the cook not briefed on this little change in the menu? Hm?"

"I don't need your bitching today, Remus. All of my potions for Dumbledore got ruined this morning, Peter's got a hangover and splinch damage, and Sirius' stupid wand is broken…so please, for Merlin's sake, shut up before I throw something at you!" Lily must not have known what a horrible moon August was for Remus. Either way, Remus' face was turning an unbelievable shade of red and green. _Very Christmassy, _Sirius wisely refrained from commenting.

"Hey, it's not my fault your potions are shite and Peter's stupid enough to go drinking with someone like Sirius!"

"OI!" shouted Lily and Peter at the same time.

"You think _my_ life's been all rainbows and unicorns lately?" Remus continued with his fists clenched at his sides. "I can't practice any worthwhile magic…it hurts to bloody _move_ after the other night…and I can't even go out on dates anymore!"

Sirius had been leaning against the kitchen wall trying unsuccessfully to mend his wand by using Peter's. He vaguely remembered throwing it against someone's house in a drunken frenzy the night before…but he wasn't sure if that was the exact moment it had snapped almost completely in two. He suspected Peter had done something to it during their drunken duel in Mrs. Earst's backyard.

Silently, Sirius approached Remus from behind, placed his hands on the werewolf's shoulders, and gently massaged them. "It's okay, Moons." And immediately, it was. Remus closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry Lily. There's really no excuse for acting like an arse."

Lily would have said, _"Oh Remus, I'm sorry too."_ But instead she only nodded, finding herself speechless herself again at the sight of Remus smiling slightly and leaning into Sirius' massage. She could have sworn she'd done the same exact thing with James on more than one occasion.

Remus noticed Peter giving him an annoyed look, but he brushed it off as probably hangover related. "Have you got a fever?" Peter asked, suddenly looking at Lily. Remus was immediately worried, but Sirius continued to concentrate on his friend's shoulders as though he had no other care in the world – not even a broken wand.

Lily covered her cheeks, which she realized must have turned red from jumping to more conclusions about Sirius and Remus' possibly not-so-platonic relationship. "Oh no, I'm fine. I think we're all just a little out of it this morning. So Remus…" said Lily, directing her attention to the man who was still looking at her strangely.

"What?"

"What are you and Sirius going to do today?"

Sirius removed his hands from Remus' shoulders and threw them up in the air. "Moony and I are going on a date today?! Finally!" he shouted. Peter groaned in agony and held his head. Lily poured him some more hangover potion and then fixed her wand on his missing fingernails.

Remus sighed. "Sirius and I are not going out today. I don't know what gave you that idea."

Lily and Peter noticed Sirius' brief crestfallen look. Lily frowned. "Remus, I know you're not going to want me to say this in front of everybody, but I refuse to let you ignore your closest friend just because you can't seem to get your emotions in order!"

"Emotions?" Sirius questioned, looking to Remus for an explanation.

But he didn't give one. "Well I guess if you're so enthusiastic about going out, we might as well." Sirius grinned. "…But it's not going to be a date."

The other man's heart sunk again. He started to worry that Remus' words were eventually going to cause his heart to plunge into his lower intestine. "Why not?" Sirius asked.

"Because today's the day we finally find you a potential boyfriend, that's why not."

"Aw Moons, does it have to be today?" Sirius whined. Lily silently agreed. Why couldn't Remus just continue being Sirius' boyfriend forever? Lily certainly wouldn't mind, although she'd have to learn to control her blushing.

"We talked about this already. I don't really want to have to explain it again in front of our friends."

"What? That you suddenly don't think I should spend all my time with the people I care about when I could be finding some stranger to love me instead?"

Remus rubbed his temples. "That's not what I said and you know it."

"That's how you've been acting," said Lily. Remus sent her a glare that clearly said she shouldn't insert herself into this conversation. And it was a little too soon after the moon for Lily to argue with him. The four of them were silent for a few minutes, each not wishing to extend the tension in the room any further. Unfortunately, silence was sometimes worse than speech.

Remus had been at a crossroads since Sirius had kissed him on the cheek. Of course, Remus knew the kiss had been meant as a friendly joke. Technically, it had been a wonderful thing for Sirius to do after one of the sweetest dates he'd ever been on. But that was just it—the kiss had almost made Remus forget the date was supposed to be fake. Nobody in the whole world treated him as special as Sirius did. And in that lies the real problem.

Remus most certainly did _not_ want to open his heart up to Sirius. He'd been okay with the casual, stress-free dating that gave Sirius a chance to figure out what to do to make himself happy. And Sirius stepping over the boundary to give him a peck on the cheek was fine…for Sirius that is. But the notion of someone so close to Remus making him feel this special was completely undeserved. He didn't want to trick Sirius into any emotions that might ruin their friendship during a time when friends meant more than anything.

But he still _wanted_ to spend time with Sirius. He'd _promised_ that this dating was going to mean they'd stay close friends no matter what. Was it selfish of him to want to continue this charade now, when he knew it could someday mean the end of their friendship? Remus, contrary to popular belief, considered himself to be a pretty selfish person when it came to the things he had. He knew he'd just have to give in and let whatever happens happen between himself and Sirius. Why not now—when Sirius clearly wanted to spend exceptional amounts of time with him? When Sirius truly believed that their friendship would stay mutually platonic.

Remus ran both hands through his hair. His scalp felt hot from the sunburn he'd gotten after forgetting to use a sunblock spell while gardening. Speaking of which…had he remembered to water the plants this morning? He glanced at the sandals on his feet and suddenly wondered what the heck he'd been doing.

"Moony?" Sirius asked to break the silence. Peter mumbled angrily, having quite enjoyed the lack of noise.

"What?" Remus shook himself out of his thoughts. He had no idea how to put what he wanted into words that Sirius wouldn't automatically misconstrue. He suspected Sirius was about to ask for everything to be explained…and frankly, Remus would rather give himself up to hunters than to try and make sense of his angst right now.

"Let's go somewhere to meet guys tonight."

Remus fell into shocked silence for a few moments. "Y-you suddenly want to?" he croaked.

Sirius averted his gaze. "If it means I get to hang out with you, I'll do it."

Remus sighed, giving in for the time being. This _is_ what he wanted, wasn't it? "I'll look for a good place and you can come around here at 6."

"And Remus'll get himself in a better mood while he's at it," Lily chimed in, which did not help to alleviate Remus' temper at all.

But the werewolf nodded nonetheless. "Yeah alright." Sirius grinned victoriously, but still felt a slight tension in the air.

"Okay lads, Mrs. Potter," he nodded to his friends. "I've got to get back and take a shower and then head to Ollivander's. I'm surprised Moony here isn't barfing from the close proximity to my smell," announced Sirius, grabbing his sort-of mended wand off the kitchen counter.

Remus laughed, although not as heartily as usual. "You've smelled worse."

"What? When?" Sirius, who tried terribly, painfully hard to groom himself perfectly every day, looked horrified at what Remus probably meant as a joke.

"I dunno, let's think shall we?" Remus looked at him sternly. "How about the time you accidentally killed that skunk and decided to carry it around in your mouth for five hours? Hm? Then you came to Lily's birthday party without brushing your teeth and decided it would be fun to whisper sweet nothings into every girl's ear?"

"Hey! You can't count dog things! That's not fair!"

Lily burst out laughing and Peter cracked a smile through his pain. "I remember that!" cried Lily. "All of my girlfriends were avoiding you and nobody would tell you why! And then didn't you…you…oh man." Now both Lily _and _Remus were blushing.

"What? I don't remember what happened after that!" Sirius looked from Remus to Lily, both of whom were looking away from him. Sirius gave Peter a 'you'd better tell me' look.

"Y-you don't remember because Moony used _Stupify_ on you," explained Peter. Lily giggled.

"Don't laugh!" cried a red-faced Remus. "I can't believe I was dumb enough to bring up the incident in the first place!"

"Was it that bad? Sirius asked, his heart suddenly pounding in fear of what he'd apparently done. Sure, it was almost a requirement for Sirius to make an arse of himself at least once every party. But he tried _never_ to involve Remus in his party antics.

Lily spoke up. "You were so sad because all the girls thought you smelled like a skunk when you whispered in their ears…so you walked right up to Remus and tried it on him!"

"What?!" cried Sirius, blushing a little. "What the hell did I say? Moony?" Remus was covering his face and making unintelligible noises. Sirius grabbed Remus' hands and peeled them from his face to find that his friend was actually laughing. Upon seeing that Remus found it funny, Lily and Peter burst into fits of laughter as well. Instantly, Sirius felt the entire room's worth of tension float away. "Moo~ny! You've gotta tell me!"

"It was a pickup line, Pads. And you know how much I hate you saying insufferably disgusting things."

"I tried to pick you up? Shit, you guys. Was I drunk?" he looked around at his chortling friends and then set his head down on the table in mock shame. Laughter was the best medicine. Remus felt a million times better than he had five minutes earlier. He discreetly stood up and walked behind Sirius' chair. "C'mon, guys!" Sirius whined.

"Y-you were d-drunk enough to say…to say…" Peter shook his head.

"WHAT?"

"**If you give me a bone, I'll give you one,**" breathed a voice in Sirius' ear.

"AH!" Sirius leapt from the kitchen chair and spun around to see Remus leaning over next to him, finally with a genuine smile on his face. "_Merlin_, Moony!" he clutched his heart. _Damn Remus and his post-moon mood swings!_ A minute ago, Sirius could have sworn Remus would have rather eaten silver than whisper bad pickup lines.

"It was pretty creative for someone who was drunk and had never tried lines on a werewolf before. I only _Stupified_ you because your breath smelled like an ogre's arse, and I've got a very sensitive nose."

Sirius could only nod. He was blushing violently, and he knew full well it was because of the way Remus had just crooned in his ear. Moments later, Sirius excused himself from the kitchen and fled quickly out the door.

Lily rolled her eyes at the abrupt end to such a strangely eventful morning.

MWPP

Sirius' cheeks were burning. He was halfway home and he still hadn't shaken the feeling. He tried to tell himself that he really shouldn't be feeling anything right now, as the situation hadn't been anything that would normally cause him to act like this. But then again, he'd had a pretty emotional past 12 hours.

Remus was being stupid, Sirius told himself for the thousandth time. Everything had been going great until Sirius had given Remus that little peck on the cheek. It wasn't like Sirius had jumped his friend. He hadn't done anything remotely sexual or borderline romantic to Remus.

What was the big deal? He'd kissed Remus' cheek before. Actually, he'd done so quite frequently back at Hogwarts. He'd kiss Remus' cheek after Quidditch matches, on holidays and birthdays, and in the classrooms when Remus' help earned Sirius an O on a paper. Remus used to smile warmly when Sirius kissed him, understanding that this was how Sirius showed his appreciation for his friends.

Sirius also kissed James and Peter on the cheek. Neither of them were quite as nice about it though—James would freak out and glance around to make sure Lily hadn't seen…and Peter would try to get as far away from Sirius as he could before bringing out his wand and using sterilizing charms on his face. Sirius vaguely understood that his stag and rat friends were as straight as arrows, so it came as no surprise that Remus would be the most welcoming of a kiss.

Nothing was different between then and now. The dating wasn't supposed to mean anything but friendship—they'd established this over and over in the weeks they'd been going out. He understood Remus' problem with kissing on the lips, even if he didn't agree with the reasoning. But the cheek had always been safe.

Maybe both parties were still a little iffy in the rules of this game.

Unless…did Remus have a crush on him…or something? Sirius stopped running. He felt an electric shock course though his body. Only people with crushes acted like a total moron after a kiss. Sirius racked his brain for clues that might confirm this. Everybody told him he was rubbish at picking up on hints and signs from others, but he wasn't about to give up this battle.

During their early years at Hogwarts, didn't Lily used to roll her eyes and tell James to "piss off" whenever he kissed her on the cheek? But then, in sixth year, she started to hex him and scream at him and contemplate murder when his lips brushed her skin. Could this be applied to Remus and himself?

Sirius was surprised his brain would even dare make a comparison between his relationship with Remus and the love that James and Lily shared.

His face was still red when Sirius finally reached his flat. But he also found himself grinning.

* * *

**Please, PLEASE review. *runs off to get next chapter ready***


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